Women's Water Polo Battle at Occidental

LOS ANGELES, La. – The Penn State Behrend women's water polo were edged 12-8 by Occidental in their second game of the California road trip Monday evening.

Five different Lions (0-4) registered goals in the tough decision against the Tigers (1-4).

Occidental got off to an early start in the contest, scoring in the opening minute to gain a 1-0 advantage. However, at the 5:26 mark, Daniella Rio-Martinez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Sagrados Corazones) caught a pass from Devon Van Rensburg (Johannesburg, South Africa/Crawford) and was able to find the back of the net to even the score. As the quarter continued, the Tigers put four more on the board the end the first with a 5-1 lead.

With 4:34 left in the second period, Occidental continued their rally and added to the lead with another goal. Just under 20 second later, Rensburg ended the Tigers scoring streak by scoring a goal of her own, which provided some life for the Lions.

About 35 seconds later, Rensburg notched a second goal to cut the lead to three with 3:23 left. JoJo Gager (Holland, MI/West Ottawa) contributed to the Behrend rally by scoring third goal coming from a power play, leaving 1:35 left in the half. Despite the three-goal hot streak from the Lions, Occidental was able to find the back of the net before the halftime whistle, bringing the score to 7-4 at the break.

For the rest of the game, goals were exchanged back-and-forth between both squads. Rio-Martinez scored another one in the second half, finishing the game with a pair of goals.

Maryn Horn (Houston, TX/Jersey Village) and Remy De Guzman (Mission Viejo, CA/Trabuco Hills) each added second-half goals as well. Horn also recorded three steals on the night. Alison McClure (Loveland, OH/Milford) made three steals and dished out three assists.

The Lions look to find their first win of the season tomorrow against Cal Tech. Game time is set for 8 p.m. EST (5 p.m. PST).