LONG BEACH, Calif. - The UC San Diego women's water polo team saw its season come to an end Friday after a 22-14 loss to UC Irvine in a quarterfinal at the Big West Championship.
The 16th-ranked and fifth-seeded Tritons end their campaign with an 11-13 record.
The ninth-ranked and fifth-seeded Anteaters improved to 13-13 and will face second-ranked and top-seeded Hawai'i in a semifinal Saturday.
The other semifinal will feature Long Beach State, the second seed, against UC Davis, the No. 3 seed.
The title match is set for Sunday.
Long Beach State is hosting the event at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on campus.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Irvine scored the game's first three goals and stayed in front until the final horn.
Triton
Caitlin Stayt tallied UC San Diego's first goal at the 5:18 mark of the opening quarter.
The Anteaters held a 7-2 advantage after one full period. They kept the pressure on in the second, out-scoring the Tritons 8-4 to lead 15-6 heading into halftime.
The next quarter was all UC Irvine as well. The Anteaters won the frame by a 5-2 count, making it 20-8 with just one quarter to go.
UC San Diego won the last period 6-2, but it wasn't enough.
Shots were 38-33 in favor of UC Irvine. UC San Diego had six power play goals and three five-meter penalty shot goals. UC Irvine scored on five power play opportunities and found the net twice on penalty shots.
Senior
Sofia Munatones racked up six points with four goals and a pair of assists. Junior
Emily Cloherty notched her ninth hat trick of the season. Stayt, a freshman, found the back of the net three times for her sixth trick of the season.
Madi O'Hara and Michelle Urkov contributed three goals each for UC Irvine..
TRITON TIDBITS
• It was the final career game for seniors
Allie Bartholomew,
Sofia Munatones, and
Sydney Munatones
• It was the sixth Big West Women's Water Polo Championship that UC San Diego has competed in
• It was the second time the Tritons were the fifth seed at the event
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.
