LOS ANGELES – After picking up two wins Friday at the University of Redlands, the VMI water polo team fell in matches against Azusa Pacific and Whittier Saturday morning hosted by Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, California.
The Keydets fell by a 10-5 score in an early 8 a.m. matchup with Azusa Pacific before falling to Whittier by a high-scoring 15-12 affair later in the morning.
The Cougars jumped ahead to a 3-1 lead after the first period as Mar Pastor scored a powerplay shot followed by a goal by VMI's Sophia DelBondio to tie it up. APU would take advantage of two more powerplay opportunities off Keydet exclusions to close the quarter.
Azusa widened the gap in the second quarter by scoring four goals while the Keydets were only allowed one as DelBondio took advantage of a powerplay for a score with under a minute before halftime.
With the Cougars up 7-2 at the break, the third period saw a highly defensive battle as each team scored just once. Sophomore Natalie Rivas tallied the score for the Keydets as the third period came to a close with Azusa up, 8-3.
Early in the fourth, freshman Caroline Wojtas cut the Azusa lead in half, 8-4, but the comeback was stalled as the Cougars held VMI to just one more goal as Rebecca Serrano put one in with 12 seconds left on the clock.
Goalie Emily Farsakian played the first half for VMI and logged two saves with a steal.
Whittier 15, VMI 12
The high-scoring battle saw both teams race to a 4-4 tie after one quarter as both teams dealt multiple exclusions to allow powerplay opportunites, which both teams converted twice. VMI's Shelby Barkley added two goals in the final 30 seconds of the period to knot the score at four apiece.
The second quarter proved to be the difference in the game as Whittier scored four goals to VMI's one and the teams went score-for-score the entire second half. Whittier's A. Hernandez led her team with three goals, while Barkley paced the Keydets with five goals, her first five-goal game of this season as she achieved the feat multiple times as a freshman.
VMI's Rivas added two scores while freshman Sarah Dolitsky scored two herself. Serrano and freshman Madison Curran each had one goal during the match. Serrano led VMI with three steals throughout.
Farsakian and Berry split time in the cage with two quarters apiece as Berry picked up the loss as the first-half starter. Berry registered four saves and two steals while Farsakian logged six saves and a pair of steals.
The Keydets return to the pool Tuesday afternoon when they will face Caltech at 4 p.m. PDT in Pasadena.
