CMS Women's Water Polo Celebrates Senior Day with 9-6 Win over Redlands

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's water polo team honored seniors Jessi Beyer and Christina Kulick before the game, and Kulick broke a 6-6 tie in the fourth quarter with the eventual game-winner as the Athenas took a 9-6 win over Redlands on Saturday at Axelrood Pool.

With the win, CMS improves to 14-9 overall on the year and moves to 8-1 in SCIAC play. The Athenas are also 20-3 in SCIAC in the last two seasons combined, a big step forward in the last two seasons for the Class of 2023. 

The Athenas got stuck in a battle, as Redlands scored four straight goals following CMS going ahead 5-2 on a goal from Cooper McKenna with 29 seconds left in the half. The Bulldogs beat the buzzer to make it 5-3 at the break, and then scored the first three goals of the second half, with Breanna Bailey putting her team in front with 1:48 left in the third. 

Isabel Del Villar then tied it with 31 seconds left in the third, and the Athenas outscored Redlands 3-0 in the fourth. Kulick put CMS ahead to stay with 6:46 left, and neither team scored for over five minutes, until Del Villar picked up a key insurance goal. McKenna then capped off the win with 21 seconds left to make the final score 9-6 and earning a hat trick. 

CMS had 13 steals defensively on the day, led by two apiece from Kulick, McKenna and Del Villar. Grace Clark and Dara Schoolcraft also had first-half goals for the Athenas. 

CMS will play its final regular season home game on Wednesday, when it hosts La Verne at 7 p.m., a team which it defeated in sudden death overtime in the first meeting.