REDLANDS, Calif. — Jassmine Kezman scored four goals and the University of La Verne women's water polo team held off the Redlands Bulldogs to claim a big SCIAC win Wednesday evening.
Season Impact: With the win, the Leopards improves to 4-4 in SCIAC play and 7-10 overall. More importantly, La Verne moves into a tie four fourth place in the conference. The SCIAC Postseason Tournament will only feature the top-four teams in the standings this season. Redlands drops to 6-17 overall and 4-4 in the SCIAC.
Kezman has scored four goals in seven games this season. The freshman leads the SCIAC with 54 goals this season and has netted 14 goals in the last three games alone. She also led La Verne defensively against the Bulldogs, finishing with three steals.
La Verne looked like they would run away with the game early after three goals by Kezman and a power-play goal by Emily Mena gave the Leopards a 4-0 lead with under two minutes remaining in the opening half.
But Redlands got on the board with 43 seconds remaining in the half and scored the opening goal of the third quarter to cut La Verne's lead in half.
After another Mena goal to end the third, Redlands rallied in the final quarter, outscoring La Verne 3-1 in the period, but the Leopards held on for their third win in four games.
Shelby Garcia was huge in the cage for La Verne, finishing with 11 saves. Victoria Mezack finished with an assist and drew two exclusions. Mena added two steals and two drawn exclusions. Jasmine Bustamante finished with two drawn exclusions and one steal.
Next Game: The Leopards take a break from SCIAC play when they host the Virginia Military Institute this Friday at 11 a.m.
