LA VERNE, Calif. — Jacqueline Rojas netted four goals and Megan Little had three for the University of La Verne women's water polo team, but St. Francis (N.Y.) used a 4-0 run in the second quarter to defeat the Leopards 15-11 at La Verne Aquatics Center on Monday.
The Leopards hung with the Division I Terriers all game, but the mini-run in the second quarter proved the eventual difference in the game.
Little and Rojas scored the first two goals of the quarter to put La Verne up 4-3 and the Leopards held the Terriers goalless for more than four minutes. But Bernadett Laszlo got St. Francis going with a tip shot off a lob pass and capped off the run with two penalty shots to give the Terriers a 7-4 lead and they never looked back.
La Verne cut the deficit to one goal on several different occasions but just could not find the equalizer.
Catie Tuning, Sarah Jefferis, Emily Randall and Tardif each chipped in one goal for the Leopards.
Laszlo finished with a game-high six goals for the Terriers and Palmer Hardy added four.
Hailey Westwood made seven saves in net for the Leopards and her counterpart Malanie Brooks turned away nine shots on the other end.
La Verne begins the SCIAC portion of the schedule on Saturaday at home against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The game starts at 11 a.m.