No. 12 UCSD Splits Final Day at Triton Invitational

LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 12 UC San Diego women's water polo team split the final day at the 2015 Triton Invitational as it rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 13 San Diego State, 9-7, but fell to No. 15 Long Beach State, 8-7, in sudden death at Canyonview Aquatic Center on Sunday.

With 6:02 left in the game, Emma Sasson scored to give the Tritons their first lead of the match. The Aztecs tied the game at 7-7 minutes later, but Lauren Finwall and Julia Kirkland closed out the quarter by recording one apiece, giving the Tritons the win.

Sasson once again came up big for the Tritons in the second game of the day. In the first period of overtime, the junior attacker found the back of the cage to put UCSD up 7-6. However, Long Beach State tied the match up in the second overtime and scored the final goal in the second period of sudden death.

Game One
San Diego State jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the opening frame. Still the Tritons battled back to cut their deficit to one behind goals from Kayla Fedler and Lani Tittle.

After the Aztecs scored three straight in the second quarter, Alexis Wieseler and Kirkland added two for the Tritons to make it 6-4 SDSU at the half.

In the final half, goalie Courtney Miller held the Aztecs to just one score while the Tritons added five more to take a 9-7 victory.

Game Two
In the fifth place game against the 49ers, it wasn't until there was 1:49 left in the game that Laurel Kistler scored to give the Tritons a 6-5 lead.

Long Beach State tied the match up with 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter to push the game into overtime.

In the first period of overtime, Sasson helped UCSD regain the lead. But once again the 49ers were able to tie it up to extend the game. Long Beach State then snuck in the game winning goal in the second period of sudden death.

The Tritons, now 5-4 overall, will travel to Davis next weekend to compete in the UC Davis Invitational. They will face Azusa Pacific at 6 p.m. on Friday and UC Davis and Cal on Saturday at 8 a.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.

Game One Box Score
UCSD 2 2 1 4 - 9
SDSU 3 3 0 1 - 7
Goals
UCSD: Julia Kirkland 2, Alexis Wieseler 2, Kayla Fedler 2, Lauren Finwall 1, Emma Sasson 1, Lani Tittle 1
SDSU: Anique Hermann 3, Ioli Benekou 2, Caroline Israels 1, Nikole Ferrari 1
UCSD: Courtney Miller 4

Game Two Box Score
UCSD 1 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 - 7
LBSU 2 1 1 2 0 1 0 1 - 8
Goals
UCSD: Emma Sasson 2, Julia Kirkland 2, Laurel Kistler 2, Lauren Finwall 1
LBSU: Justine Morgan 2, Jessica Brooks 2, Virginia Smith 2, Kayla Robert 1, Christina Kotsia 1
UCSD: Courtney Miller 14