Women’s water polo took on the no. 1 seeded Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens, Thursday, March 14. The Regals follow close behind in the no. 2 spot. With both teams undefeated in conference entering Thursday’s matchup, the high-stakes game ended in defeat for the Regals, breaking their conference winning streak.

Head Coach Craig Rond said the high stakes didn’t affect the teams’ play.

“We always tell the girls, ‘Just always remember that every team out there could beat you, but if you come ready to play, they probably won’t,’” Rond said.

Within the first two minutes of the first period, senior utility player Megan Seeman found the back of the net and put Cal Lutheran on the board. A flurry of back and forth goals occupied the rest of the first period as senior utility player Nikki Roed was able to score and bring the Regals within one of the Sagehens at 3-2.

First-year center Lexi Rond was able to throw one past the Sagehens’ goalie to tie up the game heading into the second period. When asked about her multi-goal performance this afternoon, she said it’s always fun to do well in a game; however, she emphasized that it does not mean much to her personally because the performance is a total team effort.

In the third period, senior goalkeeper Bailey Meyer came up with an incredible save that was heading to the upper corner of the the goal to keep her and her team in the game at a score of 5-3. With a pair of power play goals by the Sagehens and a converted penalty shot, the third period ended with the Regals behind 8-4.

In the start of the fourth, Meyer again came up with two huge saves, which set up junior center Victoria Rose Meek for a goal, and a converted penalty shot by Rond. Meyer totaled 16 saves during the game and sits at second on the program’s all-time saves list, according to CLU Sports.

However, Pomona-Pitzer continued to take advantage of power plays and finished the game ahead, 12-7.

Despite the Regals’ first conference loss, Rond said he thought the team battled, but were unable to take advantage of power plays.

“To be honest, I think our team played really well. I think we put up a fight. The only thing we lost track of was during our power plays,” Meyer said.

Meyer, Rond and Meek said the loss does not mean much and they are ready to play their next game because the team is still in a great position to win conference.

The Regals added another conference win at Chapman University Saturday, March 16, where they swept the Panthers 16-5. They will face the University of Redlands at home Wednesday, March 20 where they’ll look to build on their 5-1 conference record.

Dominick Grimm
Reporter