In its 21 seasons, the Pasadena City College women's water polo program has had its share of ups and downs. Last year, a slew of injuries prevented the Lancers from finishing the 2018 season after nine matches. Fast forward to 2019 and head coach Terry Stoddard, the only coach to direct the sport since it started here in 1999, has seen his team not only remain healthy but accomplish a program first.
The Lancers beat host El Camino College, 8-6, on Wednesday and that allowed them to reach a 4-3 record in the always-tough South Coast Conference regular season. It was the first time the program finished above .500 in the SCC round robin schedule. PCC will enter the SCC Championship Tournament, to be hosted at Cerritos College Nov. 7-9, as the fourth place team with an opportunity to finish higher.
"This was a huge achievement for us as a program," Stoddard said. "We are playing against some of the state's top programs every year in the SCC. I'm very proud of this '19 team as we have won close matches in conference play that could have gone either way. Certainly we are excited about our prospects at the SCC tournament."
Against El Camino, the Lancers trailed 2-0 but took the lead for good at 3-2 with 10 seconds left in the second quarter on a goal by Rebecca Lange. In all five different PCC players netted scores including three by Lange, two by the team's sharp shooter Fernanda Alvarez, and one each by Erandy Wells, Lori Nalbandian and Chloe O'Connor. Starting goalie Jackie Collier made 10 saves in two quarters of play while backup Erin Coad provided four saves and three steals.
On Oct. 26 at the Battle at the Beach Tournament, hosted at Fullerton College, the Lancers may have foreshadowed their momentum going into the SCC Tournament in playing Mt. San Antonio tough in a 10-9 defeat. PCC trailed 8-2, but roared back to cut it to 9-8 on Alvarez's fifth of six goals with 3:38 left in the game. Mt. SAC scored what proved to be the winning goal by Amber Bustamonte with 2:14 remaining. The Lancers have shortened the gap between the two SCC teams as PCC lost to the Mounties, 12-4, in their conference-counting match back on Oct. 2. Mt. SAC is currently the third seed at the SCC Tourney after a 5-2 mark in conference play.
After 23 total games, Pasadena is paced by Alvarez with 53 goals and O'Connor with 41 goals and a team-high 23 assists. Collier has 147 saves (.519 save percentage) while Coad leads the team in steals (36) to go with 86 saves.