SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The 10th-ranked UC San Diego women's water polo team defeated No. 25 Marist as well as Whittier Sunday to finish 3-1 at UC Santa Barbara's season-opening Winter Invitational.

The Tritons out-scored their opponents 34-9 as they downed Marist 15-8 and Whittier 19-1.

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HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST #25 MARIST
UC San Diego out-scored Marist in all four quarters.

The Tritons opened strong, tallying five goals in the first, their most in a single quarter of the game. Caroline Christl found the net in the first minute and a half. The Red Foxes answered quickly, tying it up just 16 seconds later. However, UC San Diego scored the next three goals and would hold a lead the rest of the way. Lucia Doak started the first quarter scoring streak, making good on the first power play of the game at 5:53. Less than a minute later, Sydney Munatones put the Tritons ahead 3-1 and Kendall Thomas' goal at 2:17 put her team up by three goals. Freshman Emily Cloherty tallied her fourth goal of the tournament with just a single second left in the quarter and UC San Diego led 5-2 heading into the second.

The first three goals of the second period belonged to the Tritons. Doak led things off with another power play strike. Christl and Annika Arroyo followed with Arroyo's coming on a five-meter penalty shot. With just under five minutes remaining in the second, Marist got a power play goal from Rachel Dean, which would close out the quarter's scoring and leave UC San Diego with an 8-3 lead heading into the halftime break. 

The second half was a bit tighter as the Tritons won each quarter by a single goal. They found the net early in the third as Grayson Mix scored 47 seconds in to make it 9-3. The Red Foxes retaliated with two-straight goals, one from Ella Baumgarten, the other by Paige Naegle, her second of the game. UC San Diego was able to score three more goals in the final four minutes of the quarter, two by Courtney Okumura and another from Thomas, that gave the Tritons a 12-6 advantage going into the fourth.

The final frame started with two Triton freshmen scoring back-to-back. Abigail Schechter capitalized on a power play, scoring at 6:41. Cloherty scored for the second time just 40 seconds later. That goal had the Tritons ahead 14-6. The eight-goal lead was the largest of the game for UC San Diego. Marist scored two more times in the quarter, one coming on a five-meter penalty shot. The Tritons' final goal came from the hand of Arroyo on a power play with 2:06 on the clock.

Six Tritons ended up scoring twice in the game including Arroyo, Christl, Cloherty, Doak, Okumura, and Thomas. Mix, Munatones, and Schechter all had single goals. Cloherty finished with four points as she assisted on two goals. Lexi Stahl made 12 saves in a complete game effort.

Naegel and Rachel Dean both had three points for the Red Foxes. Goalie Ines Sanchez made eight saves in the loss. 

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HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST WHITTIER
Nine different players scored goals for UC San Diego. Six of them scored multiple times.

Sophomore Cascade Stensland led the way, netting a career-high four goals for UC San Diego. Grad student Grayson Mix and freshman Olivia Obando each recorded a hat trick. It was a career high for Mix. Senior Lauren Bellavia, junior Sasha Frey, and junior Abby Moll each scored twice with Moll setting a new career best and Frey matching her own personal high. Junior Sila Fedler, sophomore Sydney Munatones, and freshman Abigail Schechter all came away with single goals. It was the first career goal for Fedler.

Senior goalkeeper Katie Ward made eight saves and added an assist en route to earning the victory.

The Tritons led 10-1 at halftime while adding another nine and keeping the Poets scoreless in the second half.

Whittier's lone score came early in the first quarter when Jaycee Morris found the net at the 6:15 mark with the Tritons already ahead 2-0.

UC San Diego held sizable leads in shots (29-15) and shot percentage (.655-.067). The Tritons were one-for-three on the power play while the Poets did not score in seven opportunities.

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WHAT HEAD COACH BRAD KREUTZKAMP HAD TO SAY
"We had a fantastic weekend with some really great performances. I think we were comfortable with our returners, but I was particularly impressed with our freshmen. I'm looking forward to seeing them develop as well as where this season is going to take us."

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TRITON TIDBITS
• Emily Cloherty (four goals, three assists), Courtney Okumura (six goals, one assist), Cascade Stensland (six goals, one assist), and Kendall Thomas (six goals, one assist) amassed a team-high seven points each during the tournament.
• Okumura, Stensland, and Thomas led UC San Diego with six goals apiece over the four games.
• Sophomore Allie Bartholomew was the Tritons' assist leader with seven.
• Five Tritons scored in three of four games over the weekend: Caroline Christl, Grayson Mix, Okumura, Abigail Schechter, and Thomas.
• During the tourney, UC San Diego scored 66 goals while opponents scored 21.
• Saturday, the Tritons defeated Ottawa (22-2) and lost to #3 UCLA (10-9).
• The last time that UC San Diego went 3-1 at this event was in 2020.
• The team went 2-2 at the tourney in 2022 and 2023. (no tourney in 2021)

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UP NEXT
UC San Diego remains on the road next week to play two games at California Baptist's Lancer Invitational. On Saturday, Jan. 27, the Tritons take on host CBU at 11 a.m. and Fresno Pacific at 5 p.m. For live stats links, head over to the team's schedule page.

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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 84 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 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.