NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -Â A nine-goal first half propelled the 10th-ranked UC San Diego women's water polo team to an 11-8 win over No. 8 UC Davis Friday.
The game was the first for both squads at the 2025 Barbara Kalbus Invitational. UC Irvine is hosting the 16-team tournament Feb. 21-23 on campus as well as at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach.
UC San Diego will take on top-ranked Stanford Saturday at 10:40 a.m. at Anteater Aquatics Complex in Irvine. It will be the first of two Saturday games for the Tritons. The opponent and time for the second game are TBD depending on results.
For ticket info, schedule, and results, visit the
tournament page.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons led 9-3 at halftime after netting three goals in the first quarter and six more in the second.Â
With the score tied 2-2 at the 2:47 mark of the opening period, UC San Diego exploded for seven-consecutive goals. The first came from
Abby Moll on a power play at 2:22 of quarter one and the last was courtesy ofÂ
Sydney Munatones with 35 seconds left in the second, also on a power play.
At 6:18 of the third quarter,
Kendall Thomas scored to make it 11-3. That would be the final goal of the game for the Tritons.Â
The Aggies put together their own run, scoring five-straight goals that would account for the 11-8 final score.
Thomas finished with a game-high three goals.
Evelyn Burns and
Courtney Okumura each scored twice, while
Caroline Christl, Moll,
Sydney Munatones, and
Sofia Munatones each scored single goals. Okumura finished with five points by adding three assists.
Lexi Stahl made 10 saves in the victory.
Seven different players scored for UC Davis. Maddie Sumner was the lone Aggie to net multiple goals with two.
UC San Diego was 5-for-11 on power plays while UC Davis was 2-for-9. The Tritons owned a 36-27 advantage in shots.
TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego has won five of its last six games.
• It was the fourth time this season that
Evelyn Burns has scored twice.
•
Lexi Stahl's 10 saves were a season high.
•
Caroline Christl extended her goal-scoring streak to 10 games.
•
Kendall Thomas has scored in 14 of 16Â games. She has a hat trick in three of her last four games.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego continues play at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational Saturday and Sunday.
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.
