CMS Women's Water Polo Dominates Throughout in 22-1 Win over Chapman

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Three different players had hat tricks and 12 different players scored goals as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's water polo team rolled to a 22-1 SCIAC win over Chapman on Wednesday evening at Axelrood Pool.

With the win, CMS improves to 4-2 overall, with the two losses to Division I teams (USC, UC San Diego) and the four wins all coming against SCIAC teams, although two of them count in the league standings. CMS has defeated Occidental (18-2) and Chapman (22-1) in lopsided games and won in the final two seconds against Whittier (9-8) and Cal Lutheran (8-7) with the Chapman and Cal Lutheran games counting as league contests. 

Only a buzzer beater at the very end of the first half prevented CMS from coming away with the shutout, as the Panthers closed to within 10-1 at the halftime buzzer. CMS, though, continued to dominate in the second half without allowing a goal, as the Athenas saw all three goalies (Jessica Salaz, Ruth Efe, Maribella Munoz-Jimenez) contribute to the one-goal effort. 

Offensively, Elise Power, Dara Schoolcraft and Courtney Coleman each had three goals for the Athenas, with Schoolcraft also adding three assists to give her a team-high six points. Christina Kulick, Olivia Cairns, Maddy Menard and Mia Adsen each had two goals, while Natalie Clark, Isabel Dhillon, Cassandra Ruedy, Emma Brezoczky and Cooper McKenna tallied one. Brezoczky finished with a team-high four assists, while Clark and McKenna joined Schoolcraft with three. 

Kulick led the way defensively with six steals, while Salaz had five, adding four first-half saves to earn the win. Efe and Menard each had three steals. 

CMS will be back in action when it hosts the Claremont Convergence on Friday and Saturday, with games against Siena (1:45 p.m.) and La Salle (6:45 p.m.) on Friday and Azusa Pacific (11:30 a.m.) and Conn College (4:30 p.m.) on Saturday.