Nabors and May Rescue Bulldogs in Dramatic 10-9 Overtime Victory

Source: goredlands.com

The University of Redlands women's water polo team came away with its biggest win of the season Saturday morning, beating Occidental College 10-9 in sudden-death overtime inside the Thompson Aquatic Center.

Sophomore Aubree Nabors (Conroe, Texas) tied the game with 1:30 remaining in overtime before sophomore Teagan May (Carlsbad) secured the win in sudden death as the Bulldogs took down the Tigers for their second conference victory.

Photo by Adrian Williams

Sophia Mather had 15 saves.

Junior Marlie Potocki (Joliet, Illinois) was the lone goal scorer for the Bulldogs across the first seven minutes before junior Lucia Notaro (Ventura) picked up her second assist, finding freshman Brooklyn Green (Fontana) to make it a 3-2 game in the final minute of the first quarter.

The Redlands defensive unit shut out Occidental in the second quarter, while the offense tallied four goals for a 6-4 lead at the break. Freshman Aubrey Stevenson (Calimesa), Notaro (twice), and senior Gianna Ratto (Santa Rosa) had the other four Bulldogs tallies. Freshman Kiera Federline (Ashland, Oregon), junior Natalie Abril (Rancho Cucamonga), and senior Ainsley Killian (Beaverton, Oregon) all picked up their first assists of the game.

Following a scoreless first two minutes of the third quarter, the two sides went back and forth with the Bulldogs still in front, 8-6, with 31 seconds to go. Killian and Green had the two goals for Redlands during that stretch.

Occidental, however, made it a one-goal game in the final 18 seconds of the third before shutting out Redlands in the fourth, allowing a lone goal at the 2:37 mark to send the teams into overtime tied at 8-8.

The Tigers were the first to score in the first three-minute overtime period, but midway through the second overtime Nabors saved the Bulldogs, tying the game at 9-9 with 1:30 remaining.

Following the two required three-minute overtime periods, the two sides went into sudden death, where a golden goal would end the game. Nabors had a huge field block before junior Sofia Mather (Riverside) made a save, setting up the Bulldogs with possession coming out of a timeout with 43 seconds on the clock.

Fourteen seconds later, Stevenson found May on the weak side, who beat the Tiger keeper to win it with 29 seconds left.

Mather finished with 15 saves while playing 24 minutes and 31 seconds. Abril had four saves in 16 minutes. Notaro and Green each had two-goal games. Notaro added three assists for a total of five points.

Redlands goes back on the road for a game at the University of La Verne on Wednesday, March 18, at 6 p.m.