California Baptist University
Brown
Lancers Strike First
3/26/2013 8:42:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- First impressions are everything, and California Baptist University made a good one against Brown on Tuesday.
The Lancers outscored the Bears 5-1 in the first quarter, keyed by goals from four different players.
“We came out very intense, which was good,” said Head Coach Jacob Medina. “We have struggled with that this year, coming out and setting a tone early. This game was nice to come out and just execute.”
The five goals in the first frame today is the highest total in an opening quarter that CBU has scored this season.
Freshman Hannah Evans set the tone early with her two first quarter scores, she had four total in the game.
The first quarter outburst was much needed, as in the second frame the Lancers let the Bears claw their way back into things getting outscored 4-2.
CBU still had the lead at half, but only 7-5.
“It was nice to come right out at the start today and get control right away,” said Medina. “It really shows our maturity.”
Exclusions were rare in today's game, but when they had the 6-on-5 opportunities, the Lancers capitalized scoring four goals in seven chances.
“It's about maturity on the 6-on-5,” said Medina. “It is about seeing options, reading things appropriately and taking the shot when it needs to be taken.
Two of those four 6-on-5 goals were scored on nice tap-in goals by Molly Gritchen. She now has 10 goals scored in her last six games, giving her 35 on the year.
As the game rolled on, CBU increased its lead in each of the two final quarters, outscoring Brown 6-4 in the second half to wrap up the 13-9 victory. Evans and Laura Kocsis each had four goals to lead the Lancers, Gritchen and Samantha Banks had two a piece and Briana Tryon notched one goal.
Meghan Rowland played the whole game in the cage for CBU, wrapping up six saves and four steals.
With the win, the Lancers move to 15-16 on the year, and Brown drops to 7-11.
“It is nice to get the home win and a nice win over a good program,” Medina said. “I think the girls looks good and played strong.”
CBU picks up play this weekend when they take on Redlands at Redlands on Saturday.
