IRVINE, Calif. - The 10th-ranked UC San Diego women's water polo team finished a program-best sixth at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational Sunday.
The Tritons were edged, 13-11, by No. 4 California in the fifth-place game.
Overall, UC San Diego posted a 2-2 record at the tournament. The Tritons defeated No. 8 UC Davis as well as No. 6 UC Irvine and fell to top-ranked Stanford.
UC Irvine hosted the annual event in Orange County.
For full results, visit the
tournament page.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 9-5 at halftime, UC San Diego won the second half 6-4, but it wasn't enough.
The Golden Bears scored the game's first three goals and never relinquished the lead.
The Tritons rallied late. Down 13-9 in the fourth quarter,
Abigail Schechter and
Caroline Christl went back-to-back at 3:24 and and 2:45, but those two goals closed out the scoring in the game.
The duo of Christl and Schechter accounted for six of UC San Diego's goals with each finding the net three times. Five other Tritons -
Allie Bartholomew,
Lucia Doak,
Abby Moll,
Holly Roberts and
Kendall Thomas - scored single goals.
Lexi Stahl made five saves over 24 minutes of play and
Bria Zwaschka had two in eight minutes.
For Cal, Ruby Swadling led the offense with three goals. Nine Bears scored at least once. Talia Fonseca made seven saves in the win.
Triton tournament goals:
Caroline Christl: 12
Kendall Thomas: 7
Courtney Okumura, 4
Abigail Schechter, 4
Abby Moll, 3
Evelyn Burns 2
Allie Bartholomew, 1
Lucia Doak, 1
Sofia Munatones, 1
Sydney Munatones, 1
Holly Roberts, 1
WHAT HEAD COACH BRAD KREUTZKAMP HAD TO SAY
"With this being our highest ever finish at this tournament, I could not be more proud of where this team is headed. It was a fantastic team effort from everyone and that, coupled with individual standouts, helped us play our greatest tournament we've had here. As I told the team, we are no longer underdogs, we are a team that can compete with anybody and I'm looking forward to what the rest of this season brings us."
TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego's previous best finish at the tournament was eighth in 2014.
•
Caroline Christl scored a team best 12 goals over the four games.
•
Abby Moll scored a goal in three of four games.
• Triton goal scorers:
Evelyn Burns 2,
UP NEXT
UC San Diego opens its Big West season next week. The Tritons travel to UC Davis for a game on Saturday, March 1 at noon.
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.
