STANFORD, Calif. - The 14th-ranked UC San Diego women's water polo team lost to No. 2 Stanford 15-4 on a rainy Saturday evening at the Avery Aquatic Center. UCSD was led by Sarah Bajorek with two goals, while Natalie Hockett and Flynn LaRochelle also scored for the Tritons. For the season, Stanford is now 16-3 overall and 7-1 in MPSF play. The loss dropped UCSD to 12-11 overall.
Stanford built an early 5-1 lead through the first period with a good team offensive effort. Junior Christina Hewko (Newport Beach, CA) got the match started with a goal just 12 seconds into the game, while senior Scotti Shafer (Carlsbad, CA) and junior Katie Hansen (Coronado, CA) followed with goals of their own. The Tritons' Sarah Bajorek put UCSD on the board at the 2:51 mark to tighten the score to 3-1. However, Stanford's El-Sakkary and junior Alison Gregorka (Ann Arbor, MI) extended the Cardinal lead with two more goals to close out the first period.
The second frame saw a slowing of offense as the Cardinal scored only 2 goals to the Tritons' 1. Both Stanford goals were by freshmen ? one from Lauren Silver (Long Beach, CA) and the other from Heather West (Davis, CA). Flynn LaRochelle scored UCSD's lone goal of the period just seconds before the half, bringing the Tritons to within 7-2 at the break.
When the teams reconvened, Stanford notched two quick goals by El-Sakkary and Hansen. UCSD's Natalie Hockett then scored an ejection goal to bring UCSD within 9-3, but the Cardinal rolled off another three goals from Hewko, Silver, and El-Sakkary. By the time UCSD's Bajorek scored her second goal of the evening with 39 seconds left in the third frame, the game was just about out of reach for the Tritons, as they trailed 12-4.
El-Sakkary put the finishing touches on her night with her fourth and final score early in the fourth frame, while freshman Koree Blyleven (San Diego, CA) concluded the scoring for the match with a pair of goals.
UCSD is back in action tomorrow at the UC Davis Shootout in Davis, Calif.
