Women's Water Polo 1/21/2017 8:50:00 PM UCSD

No. 11 UCSD Opens Season With Win Over Sonoma State, Loss to No. 5 Hawai'i

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The 11th-ranked University of California San Diego women's water polo team opened its 2017 campaign Saturday at UC Santa Barbara's Winter Invitational, grabbing a win against Sonoma State before falling to No. 5 Hawai'i.

UC San Diego began the day with a dominating performance over Sonoma State as seniors Alexis Wieseler and Lauren Boyer tallied four goals apiece in a 16-7 victory. UCSD then had a hard-fought battle against Hawai'i but ultimately fell, 8-5.

“Overall, I think today was very successful for us,” said UCSD head coach Brad Kreutzkamp. “We had to overcome some early season jitters with our game against Sonoma State, but I think we stepped up and finished the day with a strong performance against Hawai'i.”

GAME ONE – UCSD 16, Sonoma State 7
UC San Diego took a 1-0 lead when a shot from Boyer found the back of the net just seconds into the match. However, the Seawolves followed with a goal from Taylor Brown to tie the game, 1-1. A minute later, Sonoma State scored again to take its only lead, 2-1. Wieseler notched her first goal of the match to knot the game, 2-2. With five minutes showing on the clock, Boyer scored again to give the Tritons a 3-2 lead. Junior Kayla Fedler put away the final goal of the quarter as UCSD held a 4-3 advantage.

The Tritons were on fire to open the second quarter, scoring four unanswered goals to take an 8-3 advantage. Wieseler scored twice to complete her hat trick while Boyer and sophomore Chanel Schilling each had a goal during the stretch. Sonoma State powered back with two consecutive goals to round out the quarter, but UCSD remained ahead, 8-5, going into halftime.

The Triton defense proved tough during the third quarter, holding the Seawolves to only one goal. UCSD kept its momentum and scored five times during the frame to take a 13-6 advantage. Schilling scored twice to notch her first hat trick of the season. The remaining goals came from senior Lani Tittle, freshman Jessee Ransone and sophomore Krista Schneider.

UCSD scored three more times in the fourth and again held SSU to a single score. Senior Rachel Emami notched her first goal of the season while both Wieseler and Boyer tallied their fourth goals of the match.

In her collegiate debut, freshman Reilly Gallagher totaled six saves and one assist while playing all four quarters in goal.

GAME TWO - Hawai'i 8, UCSD 5
After Hawai'i opened with a score, Schneider fired off a quick response to tie the game. However, the Rainbow Wahine returned with two more goals to take a 3-1 lead to end the first quarter.

UH held the Tritons scoreless during the second frame, tallying three goals of its own to go up by five (6-1) at the intermission.

UCSD again entered the third quarter strong as Fedler scored back-to-back goals to cut Hawai'i's lead to 6-3. The Triton defense stepped up and stopped any scoring attempts from the Rainbow Wahine in the quarter. With three seconds remaining, Wieseler drilled a shot into the back of the cage to bring the Tritons within striking distance, 6-4, heading into the final quarter.

Two goals from Hawai'i in the opening of the fourth ultimately determined the game. The Tritons tried to fight back with a goal from Wieseler in the final two minutes. However, it wasn't enough as the Rainbow Wahine escaped with the victory.

Schneider and Fedler led the offense with two goals each, while Gallagher made another 13 saves and notched an assist.

“I was extremely happy with our performance against Hawai'i tonight,” Kreutzkamp said. “We stepped up and played toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country and I thought we played great and showed a lot of physicality.”

UCSD will return to action Sunday for day two of the Winter Invitational, facing No. 10 Pacific at 12:00 p.m. followed by No. 3 UCLA at 3:00 p.m.

GAME ONE BOX SCORE
UCSD 4 4 5 3 - 16
Sonoma St. 3 2 1 1 - 7

Goals
UCSD: Alexis Wieseler 4, Lauren Boyer 4, Chanel Schilling 3, Jessee Ransone 1, Lani Tittle 1, Kayla Fedler 1, Rachel Emami 1, Krista Schneider 1