LA JOLLA, Calif. -Â The 14th-ranked UC San Diego women's water polo team dropped a 10-7 non-conference decision to No. 11 Michigan Wednesday night at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
With the loss, the Tritons fell to 7-7 on the season, while the Wolverines improved to 13-7.
Michigan struck first and never trailed in the game. UC San Diego was able to tie the score once but couldn't find a way to pull ahead.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Michigan scored the game's first two goals, the first coming on a power play. With 1:47 remaining in the opening quarter, UC San Diego got on the board when
Sofia Munatones found the net. That goal would be the last of the period.
The second quarter saw each team score three goals. Munatones got her second of the game at 3:03, which kept the Tritons within one at 3-2 in favor of the Wolverines. Michigan then tallied two straight goals - one on a power play - to take a 5-2 lead.
At that point, the UC San Diego offense erupted, scoring three consecutive times. Stayt got her first of the night on a power play at 1:14 of the second. With 28 ticks left in the quarter, she struck again, also on a power play.
Freshman
Kendra Ammon opened the third quarter with a goal at 6:17, evening the score at 5-5.
However, Michigan netted the game's next three goals and led 8-5 with 2:34 on the clock in the third. Stayt completed a hat trick at 1:41 of the third to make it 8-6, but Michigan's Issy Jackson returned the favor and the visitors owned a 9-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Stayt tallied the first goal of the final stanza at 3:20, but Emilia Mladjan scored 20 seconds later and that would prove to be the final goal of the game.
UC San Diego held a 32-24 lead in shots. The Tritons won all four sprints in the game.
Michigan went four for seven (.571) on the power play while UC San Diego was two for six (.333).
Emily Cloherty finished with three steals for UC San Diego while
Anna Fazioli,
Sydney Munatones, and
Cascade Stensland had two apiece.
Bria Zwaschka had seven saves and one steal as the Tritons' goalie.
Emma Gustafsson and Ari Karampetsou recorded hat tricks for the Wolverines. Sophia Bunnell was a stalwart in net as she made 15 saves and added three steals.
SARAH LIZOTTE INTERVIEW
UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to Big West action on Saturday, March 7, at No. 6 Hawai'i The game at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex is set for an 8 p.m. Pacific start. The game can be followed with
FOSH Live Stats.
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.
