LA JOLLA, Calif. – On the final day of action at its own Triton Invitational, the 18th-ranked UC San Diego women's water polo team was edged, 6-5, by No. 13 Indiana Sunday at Canyonview Aquatic Center.

The Tritons fell to 4-7 on the season while the Hoosiers upped their record to 8-4. Five different players scored for UC San Diego.

UC San Diego went 1-3 during the tourney, defeating No. 12 UC Davis and falling to No. 3 UCLA, No. 8 Fresno State, and Indiana.

In Sunday's championship game, No. 2 USC topped UCLA by a score of 10-8 in overtime to win its first Triton Invite title since 2019. The victory by the Trojans snapped a two-year win streak in La Jolla for the Bruins, who took first place in both 2022 and 2020 (no tournament in 2021).

For complete tournament information including game results and more, visit the Triton Invitational Tournament Central page.

------
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The loss wasn't due to lack of shooting as UC San Diego fired 38 shots to IU's 27. Indiana goalkeeper Mary Askew came up huge in the cage, making 20 saves to keep the Tritons' scoring to a minimum.

Sophia Sollie scored the game's first goal to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead with just under six minutes left in the opening quarter. Caroline Christl evened it up with a power play goal at the 2:35 mark. The teams traded goals again with Indiana going up 2-1 before freshman Sydney Munatones scored her fifth goal of the season to bring UC San Diego even again. The Hoosiers netted the next two goals of the game. The first, coming with just 20 seconds left in the first quarter, put Indiana up 3-2 and the Hoosiers would stay in front the rest of the way.

At 5:30 in the second quarter, IU took a two-goal lead as Skylar Kidd found the back of the net, making it 4-2. From there, UC San Diego would get back within a single goal three times before the end of the game. A Lucia Doak goal at 4:57 of the second made it 4-3. Down 5-3 coming out of halftime, Courtney Okumura scored on a power play at 5:54 of the third frame, bringing the score to 5-4 Hoosiers. Indiana scored its final goal of the game with 3:59 remaining in the fourth quarter to take a 6-4 advantage. Annika Arroyo tallied a goal at 1:02, UC San Diego's fourth power play conversion of the afternoon, but that would prove to be the final goal of the game.

Lexi Stahl played the first half in goal for UC San Diego and made three saves while adding a pair of steals. Freshman Bria Zwaschka came in for the second half and also had three stops.

------

QUOTABLE

 
------

TEAM PLACING/RECORDS AT THE TOURNAMENT
1. USC, 4-0
2. UCLA, 3-1
3. Hawai'i, 3-1
4. UC Irvine, 2-2
5. Long Beach State, 3-1
6. Fresno State 2-2
7. Indiana, 2-2
8. UC San Diego, 1-3
9. UC Santa Barbara, 3-1
10. UC Davis, 2-2
---
Loyola Marymount, 1-3
San Diego State, 1-3
CSUN, 1-3
Concordia, 0-4

------  

TRITON TIDBITS
• Of the 28 games during the tournament, only the championship contest went to overtime.
• Both Caroline Christl and Lucia Doak scored six goals for the Tritons during the tourney. Courtney Okumura scored five times.
• Lexi Stahl made 26 saves over the three days of action.
• This was the first time that the Triton Invitational consisted of three days of competition instead of the usual two.
• Of the 14 teams in the field, 13 were ranked among the top-25 in the country.
• Friday's win against UC Davis was UC San Diego's home opener.

------
 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego is off until it travels to the Barbara Kalbus Invitational at UC Irvine, which is slated for Feb. 24-26 at the Anteater Aquatics Complex in Orange County.

------
 
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 began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West 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 38 have earned 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.