STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 20 UC San Diego women's water polo team saw an early lead evaporate as it fell 13-8 to No. 6 UC Irvine in the consolation round of the 2015 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center Saturday. The Tritons will conclude the three-day, eight-team tournament against Hawai'i, which lost 7-6 to Princeton, in the seventh-place game at noon on Sunday.
“That wasn't a very fun second half,” head coach Brad Kreutzkamp said. “I thought we gave them a good effort in the first half. They're just so strong inside, and they're strong outside. We'll come back tomorrow and learn from it, but that was tough.”
UCSD falls to 19-20 overall with the loss while UCI improves to 20-9 on the year.
After the Anteaters missed the cage high on their first possession, Laurel Kistler found senior Jolene Guiliana, who's shot floated past goalkeeper Jillian Yocum and broke the goal line. Minutes later UCI stole the ball and Danielle Ward tied up the match at one apiece on a power play. Still, the momentum was on UCSD's side.
With 3:41 left in the opening frame, Guiliana found Lani Tittle to retake the lead. Kistler then gave the Tritons some breathing room with an unassisted score on power play thanks to Lauren Finwall drawing the exclusion. The Anteaters responded with their second goal of the period, but Finwall took a clean pass from Guiliana to put UCSD up 4-2 at the end of the first.
UCI cut its deficit to one after scoring on the first possession of the second period. Threatening to score again on its next possession, goalie Courtney Miller came off the line to grab a steal from UCI. Then on the next play, Guiliana again dished out a perfect pass to Tittle for the sophomore's second goal of the match. After three goals from the Anteaters to take the lead, Emma Sasson took a shot from deep to square up the match at 6-6 heading into the half.
“[UCI] missing their shots," Kreutzkamp said of what helped the Tritons take an early lead. "We put them on the line. Let's see if they can miss, (and) get some shot blockers in front of the cage. See if Courtney's on, and I think the first quarter and a half it took them a little while to get warm up. And they did, and I was hoping that would never happen.”
While the Tritons typically are strong in the third quarter, they ran into issues in Saturday's game at the beginning of the second half. The Anteaters pulled ahead by scoring four goals while keeping UCSD scoreless. The Tritons almost netted one in the third when Lauren Boyer got a shot past Yocum, but an offensive foul called on UCSD before Boyer got the shot off canceled the goal.
With UCSD trailing 11-6 in the fourth quarter, Kistler recorded her second goal of the day. But the Anteaters scored twice in 32 seconds for a six point lead. Sasson closed out the match with a skip shot goal, but it wasn't enough for the Tritons as they fell, 13-8.
The Tritons were led on offense by Sasson, Kistler and Tittle who each score two goals. Guiliana finished the game with all four of UCSD's assists. UCSD will fight for seventh place against Hawai'i Sunday at noon.
“I think it's cool that we get to go into a game that's definitely winnable for us instead of being already predetermined,” Guiliana said. “We've had a tough season, losing a lot of games, a lot of losses by one, a lot of things just not going our way. I feel like if everyone can come out with enthusiasm to finally have one game swing our way with a one goal win would be a perfect ending."
Box Score
UCI 2 4 4 3 13
UCSD 4 2 0 2 8
Goals
UCI: Danielle Warde 5, Mary Brooks 3, Destene Albers 1, Kelsey Thornton 1, Emily Carlson 1, Mackenzie Milham 1, McKenna Mitchell 1
UCSD: Emma Sasson 2, Laurel Kistler 2, Lani Tittle 2, Jolene Guiliana 1, Lauren Finwall 1
Saves
UCI: Jillian Yocum 10
UCSD: Courtney Miller 8
#TritonsRising
