LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The 16th-ranked UC San Diego women's water polo, by defeating Santa Clara 8-7 in the game's final second on Sunday afternoon, clinched third place at the Western Water Polo Association Championships.
SCU, facing a four-goal deficit with nine minutes to play in regulation, managed to come back and tie the game at 7-7. Stephanie Bocian tossed in the game-winning score as the clock hit 0:00.5 to give the Tritons (19-17) a dramatic win and third place in the WWPA. Seven different UCSD players ended up scoring in the eight-goal team effort.
The Broncos (19-13) and Tritons scored three goals apiece in the first quarter as both offenses got off to a hot start. UCSD tallied the only score of the second quarter and took the 4-3 lead into halftime. Nicole Hermann led the team with two goals through the first 16 minutes of play. At intermission, Triton head coach Larry Sanders sent goalkeeper Kim Hockett in to replace starter Markayla Quane.
The UCSD attack continued to take off, scoring three unanswered goals to open the third quarter and extending the Triton lead to 7-3. With 59 seconds left in the period, SCU tossed in a score to jumpstart a rally that included three more goals in the fourth quarter.
Bocian's goal with a half second left on the clock, her 18th score of 2008, gave UCSD its 19th victory of the season and the third place finish.
