After a much needed day off, the University of Toronto women's water polo team continued its 2020 southern California competition tour by visiting Occidental College for a game under the lights.
 
Toronto took the lead on a counterattack goal by sophomore Emily Grossman (Santa Clara, California).  However, on the very next possession, Blues' senior co-captain and standout goalie Rachael Jaffe (Irvine, California) misjudged a steal attempt on a pass into the center allowing the Tigers to tie things up.  Jaffe and the defence then stiffened and shut out Occidental for the rest of the quarter.  Sophomore Deena Charles (Fraser Valley, B.C.) then restored the Blues' lead with a long shot into the top corner.
 
Junior assistant captain Caitlyn Tiedje (Calgary) scored on a quick backhand at the center forward spot to put Toronto ahead 3-1.  Sophomore Allie Vas (Yorba Linda, California) then made it 4-1 on another Blues' counterattack.  Meanwhile, Jaffe stonewalled the Tigers at every turn and kept the hosts off the score sheet.
 
In the third quarter, it was the Tigers turn to post a shutout as they negated several of Toronto's glorious scoring opportunities.  In the middle of the quarter, Occidental finally found the back of the net to bring the deficient back to two, much to the delight of the home crowd.
 
The Blues then proceeded to score three unanswered goals to start the final frame thanks to a natural hat trick from freshman Kaitlyn Palmer (Ottawa).  Right after Blues sophomore Sara Sutherland (Regina) won the opening swim off, head coach George Gross, Jr. called a thirty second timeout to allow the offence to set up on the power play which had been generated just before the end of the third quarter.  After a couple of shifts of the formation, Palmer curled around from the right wing, took a pass and rifled it into the top corner.  On the very next Tigers' possession, Palmer promptly stole the ball at mid-pool and raced down the right side to score her second.  She completed the hat trick on another counter two minutes later.  After Occidental scored its third goal, senior co-captain Kassie Fraser (Vancouver) closed out the scoring with a strong outside shot as the Blues came away with an 8-3 victory.
 
Freshman Lauren Dundee (Perth, Scotland) led the Blues with a game-high four steals while Grossman had two. 
 
The Blues penalty-killing was highly successful stopping eight of nine Tigers power plays.  
 
Jaffe was the defensive star of the game notching 14 saves.