LA JOLLA, Calif. – Splitting a pair of matches on the final day of the annual Triton Invitational tournament, the No. 12 UC San Diego women's water polo team finished in seventh place overall, falling 9-7 to No. 10 UC Davis before bouncing back with a 12-8 win over No. 13 Long Beach State to cap off their first homestand of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the loss to UC Davis, the Tritons jumped out to an early 4-1 lead at the end of the first period, with three-straight UC San Diego goals to start the period from
Annika Arroyo,
Taylor Onstott, and
Lucia Doak. The lead would grow to 6-1 in the first minutes of the second period with Arroyo putting one in the back of the net and assisting on a powerplay goal from
Courtney Okumura.
The Tritons struggled to maintain the advantage though, with UC Davis mustering five unanswered goals to end the half and into the third period. After UC San Diego took the 7-6 lead on a
Kendall Thomas powerplay goal, UC Davis put three straight goals into the back of the cage, earning themselves a chance to play for fifth-place against UC Irvine.
With the loss, the Tritons came back against Long Beach State in the seventh-place match, leading for nearly the entire match. After Long Beach State tied the match at 1-1 three minutes into the first period, UC San Diego produced four-straight goals, pushing the lead to 6-2 through two periods. After each team exploded for five goals apiece in the third period, defense reigned in the fourth, leading to a 12-8 win for the Tritons and seventh place overall in the tournament.
QUOTABLE
"We still have a lot of room to grow," said UC San Diego head coach
Brad Kreutzkamp after the win against Long Beach State. "We did some video in between games today and I think we saw some errors in our powerplay that I was really happy that we fixed against Long Beach [State]."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Onslaught by Onstott – Taylor Onstott had her two best games of the season Sunday, scoring a goal and two assists against No. 10 UC Davis before helping push the Tritons over No. 13 Long Beach State with two goals and four assists, both season-high marks.
- Records Watch – Bennett Bugelli recorded 14 more saves across two matches on the second day of the Triton Invitational, after recording 11 on Saturday, bringing her career total up to 679 career saves, good for fifth all time. This season, she has already leapt up from ninth place after making 25 saves at the UCSB Winter Invite. Next on the list is Maryam Hadiashar with 697 saves.
| Goalie Saves |
Player Name |
Years Played |
| 1,465 saves |
Courtney Miller |
2013-2016 |
| 852 saves |
Jefi Paulsen |
1987-1990 |
| 701 saves |
Leona Mason |
1993-1996 |
| 697 saves |
Maryam Hadiashar |
1997-2000 |
| 679 saves |
Bennett Bugelli |
2017- |
- History with Every Win – With the win over Long Beach State, head coach Brad Kreutzkamp moved up to 250 career wins, after already having surpassed his former head coach and mentor Denny Harper earlier this season for the program record.
- Big West Comes Up Big – In Sunday's action, five of the top-10 finishers were members of the Big West, with Hawaii (third), UC Irvine (fifth), UC Davis (sixth), UC San Diego (seventh), and Long Beach State (eighth).
UP NEXT
UC San Diego (6-4, 0-0 BW) vs Whittier College (1-1)
Sunday, Feb 19 at 9:30 am (Non-conference)
Bulldog Invite – Redlands, California
UC San Diego (6-4, 0-0 BW) vs Claremont-Mudd Scripps (1-1)
Sunday, Feb 19 at 12:30 pm (Non-conference)
Bulldog Invite – Redlands, California
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
