La Verne, Calif.- The Saint Francis water polo team (6-12) won a sudden death duel with La Verne 11-10 and lost to Azusa Pacific 12-7 on Monday.

La Verne Recap

·         It was a tight contested game as neither team could pull away.

·         The game remained scoreless until 1:07 left in the first period when Ani Aghakhanian (La Crescenta, Calif/La Valley College) scored the icebreaker goal.

·         La Verne quickly tied it up but Cam Nguyen (Mason, Ohio/Mason) retaliated with a goal for a 2-1 lead as the first period ended.

·         Saint Francis stretched the lead to 3-1 on an Erin O'Neill (Landsdale, Pa/North Penn) strike.

·         But the Leopards went on a 3-0 run to reclaim the advantage.

·         O'Neill evened up the score with a laser strike.

·         La Verne, once again, took the lead but Julia Bradford (Edinboro, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) scored to crystalize the halftime score at 5-5.

·         The Leopards leaped ahead again but another SFU freshman, this time Caroline Gillespie (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn High School), proved equal to the task of scoring and tying the game.

·         Two La Verne goals gave the California team a 8-6 advantage but Bradford and O'Neill teamed up to tie the contest at 8-8 entering the fourth period.

·         The fourth quarter featured plenty of fierce defense and few scoring opportunities.

·         La Verne broke through for a goal and with time dwindling down looked prime to win a close game.

·         But Bradford put pat to that! With 20 seconds left, the freshman had the composure of a veteran as she send a lightning bolt through the net to tie the game.

·         La Verne had enough time to counter but suffocating defense prevented no scoring opportunity.

·         In the first overtime period, freshman Rebecca Pendleton (Maple Glen, PA/Upper Dublin High Schhol) won the sprint and then displaying an opportune gift for good timing scored her first collegiate goal with an absolute missile of a goal. 10-9 SFU as the first overtime period ended.

·         La Verne countered in the second overtime period to knot the game at 10-10 and send both squads to sudden death.

·         The Red Flash had a pass intercepted but La Verne couldn't capitalize on their opportunity and Rosalinda Rivera (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn High School) found Aghakhanian on a breakaway and the senior slammed home the winning goal.

Azusa Pacific Recap

·         The Red Flash, a bit exhausted from their overtime bout, quickly fell behind 3-0 against the Cougars.

·         Breanna Dupperon (Regina, Canada/Campbell Collegiate) rallied the troops with a goal but APU scored right after her deposit.

·         The Cougars posted another goal but Kelsey Gring (Sinking Spring, Pa/Wilson) scored to make the contest 5-2 entering the second period.

·         Cam Nguyen (Mason, Ohio/Mason) converted a goal but the Cougars, once again, placed a ball in the net immediately after a SFU goal.

·         Despite Dupperon's second goal, the Red Flash trailed 8-4 heading into halftime.

·         APU struck quickly in the third period to advance their lead to 9-4.

·         Ani Aghakhanian (La Crescenta, Calif/La Valley College) put in a goal to cut the deficit to 9-5.

·         The Cougars tallied once more before the bell for a 10-5 advantage.

·         Dupperon and Metzil Enriquez both scored in the fourth period for SFU.

·         Unfortunately, APU earned two more goals and won the game 12-7.

Notes

·         The impact of the four swimmers cannot be exaggerated. Cam Nguyen (Mason, Ohio/Mason), Julia Bradford (Edinboro, Pa./Villa Maria Academy), Erin O'Neill (Landsdale, Pa/North Penn) and Rebecca Pendleton (Maple Glen, PA/Upper Dublin High Schhol) combined for nine out of the 18 SFU goals. In the La Verne, the quartet tallied eight out of the 11 Red Flash goals. Having the squad at full strength has been transformative.

·         Saint Francis shot 18-36 over the two games.

·         The Red Flash held opponents to 1-10 on powerplays.

·         The La Verne win was the first overtime game and subsequently victory in SFU water polo history.

Up Next

The Red Flash are right back in the pool when they play CSUN at 6 pm ET tonight.