2012 Women's Water Polo Season Preview

With a slew of returning players mixed-in with a host of promising new comers, the 2012 Caltech women’s water polo team is poised to continue the programs upward momentum.

“We have a team of dedicated ladies who will work hard and put in the extra work to help this team and program reach its potential,” fourth year head coach Josh Moser said. “They have put in the effort during the preseason workouts and practice now it is time for them to show the fruits of their labor.”

Most of the teams top goal scorers from 2011 return to the pool, including Caitlin Regan who best the opposition’s goalie a team best 23 times. Erin Hoops was the team’s second leading scorer in 2011 tallying 22 goals. She had a team best three hat tricks during her junior campaign.

Video - Erin Hoops Talks About the 2012 Season

“The front line duo of Caitlin Regan and Erin Hoops are extremely important to our offense,” Moser said. “Both of them are very experienced players who know how to find the back of the goal on a regular basis. The team will feed off the energy they help create in front of the net.”

After missing the first eight games of 2011, Hanna Dodd slid into the line-up and quickly became a lethal scoring weapon for the Beavers. Dodd score 16 goals in the 13 games she played-in last season.

“Having a healthy Hanna Dodd is important to the team’s success. When she is in the pool she commands respects from the opposing team’s defense,” Moser said.

Karen Dowling and Janis Intoy round out the returning players who scored multiple goals for the squad last season. Dowling was fourth on the team with 16 goals, including two hat tricks, while Intoy tallied six goals during her junior year.

“Karen really came on last season and showed a lot of ability. If she continues to improve her game on both ends of the pool, it will be a huge boost to the squad,” Moser said. “Janis is one of the team leaders. As a senior, she will be looked upon to influence this team positively during the entire year.”

The Beavers will be breaking in a new goalie this year after the graduation of Kati Peters. Expect Connie Hsueh to see most of the action in goal.

“Losing Kati certainly hurts us from an experience stand point but I think Connie will step-in quickly and adapt to the college game,” Moser said.

Caltech’s campaign begins on Saturday, March 3 with an 11:00 a.m. match with Penn State-Behrend. During the season’s first seven days, the Beavers will play eight different opponents.

“We have a tough stretch to begin the season but the SCIAC has a lot of depth and talent and the early season contests will help prepare us for league games,” Moser concluded.