Women's Water Polo 1/23/2016 11:05:00 PM UCSD

No. 21 UCSD Opens 2016 Season With Two Wins Over Azusa Pacific and No. 19 CSUN

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The 21st-ranked UC San Diego women's water polo team opened up its 2016 campaign in the first day of the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invitational grabbing wins against Azusa Pacific and No. 19 CSUN. The Tritons are now 2-0 to begin the season.

"I'm very happy to a 2-0 start to the year," said head coach Brad Kreutzkamp. "With that said, we definitely have room for growth and have a lot to work on."

GAME ONE – UCSD 15, APU 7
UCSD began the contest on fire and never looked back, taking down APU 15-7. The Tritons scored three straight to start the game as junior center Lauren Boyer, senior attacker Julia Kirkland and senior two-meter Alexis Wieseler found the back of the cage. After a Cougar score, junior attacker Connie Wu put one away with only a tick remaining on the clock as UCSD led 4-1 after the opening quarter.

After APU nabbed the first score of the second period from Alba Espinar, the Tritons exploded for four goals, two from Alexis Wieseler and one each from Kirkland and Boyer. With one second remaining before the intermission, Alexis Wieseler was able to draw a penalty and buried the ensuing five-meter penalty shot as time expired to complete her hat trick. UCSD took an 8-2 advantage into halftime.

The Tritons scored three consecutive to start the second half from sophomore utility Kayla Fedler, Kirkland and Krista Schneider to increase the margin to nine. The Cougars scored two straight to cut it to seven. UCSD ended the third frame with another score. With seven seconds left Alexis Wieseler found the back of the cage as the Tritons went into the final quarter up 12-4.

UCSD scored three in the fourth frame and cruised to an eight-goal win. The Triton scores in the quarter came from junior two-meter Lani Tittle, Alexis Wieseler and freshman attacker Riley Heiduk.

Alexis Wieseler led the Tritons with five goals. Kirkland and Boyer added three and two, respectively. Senior goalkeeper Courtney Miller recorded 11 saves.

GAME TWO – UCSD 10, CSUN 9
UCSD escaped with a narrow 10-9 win over CSUN after a commanding three-goal lead. The Tritons opened up to an early 3-2 advantage after the first quarter with two scores coming from Boyer and one from Alexis Wieseler.

UCSD broke away in the second period, with Alexis Wieseler and Kirkland putting two away before a Matador score. With 1:16 remaining, freshman attacker Shelby Stender was able to find the back of the cage as the Tritons went into halftime with a 6-3 lead.

The two teams traded two goals each in the third frame, as UCSD kept a three-score advantage into the final quarter.

The Tritons allowed four goals in the fourth quarter, but were able to put away two themselves to barely escape with a one-score win.

"I am proud of our team to hang on for the victory against a very tough Northridge team," Kreutzkamp said.

Boyer led UCSD with three goals. Kistler, Kirkland and Alexis Wieseler each put away two. Miller had 12 stops in the cage.

GAME ONE
UCSD 4 4 4 3 - 15
APU 1 1 2 3 - 7

Goals
UCSD: Alexis Wieseler 5, Julia Kirkland 3, Lauren Boyer 2, Riley Heiduk 1, Lani Tittle 1, Connie Wu 1, Krista Schneider 1, Kayla Fedler 1