LA JOLLA, Calif. -Â
Cascade Stensland scored a career-high seven goals to lead the UC San Diego women's water polo team to a 20-8 victory against CSUN in Big West action Saturday at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
The 14th-ranked Tritons are now 7-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play. It was the second-straight Big West win for the team.
The Matadors, ranked No. 23 nationally, dropped to 10-4 and 1-1.
UC San Diego has won the last 16 meetings against CSUN. The Matadors last defeated the Tritons in 2015.
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN led 3-2 after the opening quarter, but UC San Diego exploded offensively in the second frame, out-scoring it opponent 7-3 to lead 9-6 at halftime.Â
With the score even at 6-6 in the second, the Tritons scored five consecutive goals and were up 11-6 at the 6:01 mark of the third quarter. Stensland tallied her fourth and fifth goals of the game during that barrage. Still in the third, UC San Diego had a run of three-straight goals and the team enjoyed a 14-8 lead going into the fourth.
Ashley Strickland scored CSUN's final goal of the game with just eight seconds remaining in the third.Â
It was all Tritons in the fourth as they put up another six goals while the Matadors were held scoreless. Stensland scored at 6:01 and fittingly scored the game's final goal, that one coming with 55 ticks left in the game.
UC San Diego's
Evelyn Burns,
Abigail Schechter, and
Berkley Sinner each scored twice in the game. Seven other Tritons netted single goals. Freshman
Kendra Ammon racked up four points with a goal and three assists.
Sophomore
Ally Bone, competing in her first game as a Triton, scored her first career goal.
Triton goalie
Bria Zwaschka established a new career high by making 16 saves. She also grabbed two steals.
For CSUN, Mira Dravucz (two goals, one assist) and Strickland (one goal, two assists) each contributed three points.
The Matadors held a 35-30 lead in shots.
Five of UC San Diego's goals came on five-meter penalty shots while another five were scored on power plays.
CASCADE STENSLAND INTERVIEW
UP NEXT
UC San Diego continues play at home on March 4 when it hosts Michigan at 6 p.m. Tickets are available through the
Triton Box Office.
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.
