WATER POLO WRAPUP: Highlighting Key College Match-Ups

PHOENIX, Arizona, March 21. CHECK out results from last week's collegiate water polo tournaments and matches.

Aztec Invitational, March 16-17
San Diego State University hosted the Aztec Invitational March 16-17. Besides the host Aztec team–seventh in the nation–competing teams included eighth-ranked Hawai'I, No. 11 Indiana, No. 12 Princeton, No. 13 Cal State Northridge, No. 16 UC Davis, No. 17 UC San Diego and Bucknell. For a full listing of results, please click on this link: http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/spec-rel/031613aad.html

Highlights from top-20 action include:

No. 7 San Diego State: The host Aztecs were a perfect 3-for-3. They began the tournament with a 11-3 victory over Bucknell. Ten different people scored for San Diego, with Anique Hermann scoring two. Later in the day, San Diego State came from behind with four goals in the final quarter to defeat 11th-ranked Indiana, 12-11, courtesy of Hermann (2), Emily Whalen and Taelor Moreno.
On Sunday, San Diego State scored four unanswered goals after being down 2-1 in the first and proceeded to defeat No. 12 Princeton 10-7. Hermann scored twice in that stretch, with Moreno and Voigt each contributing one. Brittany Zwimer scored a hat trick for the Tigers.

No. 8 Hawai'I: The Rainbow Wahine split their first-day matches, losing 7-4 to No. 11 Indiana and coming back in the evening to defeat Bucknell 10-4.

The Hoosiers were able to avenge their defeat against Hawai'I from the Stanford Invitational in February by opening up a 7-4 lead in the first half. Although the Rainbow Wahines were able to hold Indiana to a single goal in the second half, they weren't able to close the gap any further. The final score was 8-6, Indiana. Led by Monika Eggens' six goals, Hawaii bounced back to defeat Bucknell, 10-4, in Saturday's night game. The Rainbow Wahine outscored the Lady Bisons 5-1 in the first quarter and were ahead 9-3 at the half.

Hawai'I finished its portion of the tournament with a 12-3 victory over No. 12 Princeton. That brought the Rainbow Wahines' record to 11-6, winning five of its last six matches. Hawai'I led 5-2 at the half and then put the Tigers away with a 4-0 goal scoring run. Paula Chillida Esforzado led Hawai'I with four goals; Eggens collected three.

No. 11 Indiana: Hawaii upset No. 8 Hawaii and lost a close match to No. 7 San Diego State (see stories above) on the first day of the Aztec Invitational.

Indiana lost twice on the second day. Indiana got off to a good start against No. 17 UC San Diego–the score was tied 3-3 at the half. What hurt Indiana was a five-goal fourth period from the Tritons, with goals coming from Sarah Lizotte (2), Melissa Bartow, Leah Gonzales and Jolene Guiliana. Later in the day, the Hoosiers made a comeback attempt against No. 13 Cal State Northridge, but ended up short, 8-7. Indiana's Colleen McNaught tied the game at 7-7 with 2:32 to play in the game, but the Matadors' Kelcie Ferreira scored 15 seconds later. Despite several chances, Indiana just couldn't put the ball in the net.

No. 12 Princeton: Besides their games against UC Davis, Hawai'I and San Diego State, Princeton scored 8 goals to Cal State Northridge's 5. The score was tied 2-2 after the first quarter. Thanks to a strong defense and the Matadors only managing one shot on goal in the second quarter, the Tigers were able to create a 4-2 halftime lead. Camille Hooks and Katie Rigler each scored twice to lead Princeton's scoring attack.

No. 13 Cal State Northridge: The Matadors lost twice on the first day of action to 12th-ranked Princeton and No. 17 UC San Diego. This marked the fourth time that the two teams had met. CSUN had won all three prior matches; the fourth time was a charm for the Tritons. The Matadors built up a 3-1 lead with 3:55 left in the second period from two goals from Marisa Young and one by Melissa Doll. UCSD's Sarah Lizotte scored three straight goals and Alexis Wieseler added one to make the score 5-3 with 4:06 in the third. Wieseler ended with four goals, the last one sealing the victory for the Tritons.

Northridge came back with two victories on Sunday against No. 11 Indiana and Bucknell (8-2).

No. 16 UC Davis: No. 12 Princeton defeated the UC Davis Aggies, 6-5. UC Davis opened up a 3-2 halftime lead, which withered to a 5-3 deficit courtesy of goals from the Tigers' Diana Murphy, Saranna Soroka and Jessie Holechek. UC Davis' Alex Rawlinson scored the final goal of the game with 32 seconds left in the fourth quarter. UC Davis lost its second match to No. 17 UC San Diego. The Aggies once again had an early lead of 2-1 at the half and 3-2 early in the third period when three different Tritons–Allison Delgado, Jolene Guiliana and Leah Gonzales–scored goals to bring the score up to 5-3, UCSD. Jessica Dunn scored a goal for UC Davis in the final seconds of the third quarter to bring the deficit to one goal, but the Aggies were unable to even the score.

UC Davis only competed on the first day; they returned home to prepare for matches on Monday against Harvard and Fresno Pacific before the team's finals break.

No. 17 UC San Diego: The Tritons enjoyed indentical 7-6 victories on Day 1 against No. 13 Cal State Northridge and No. 16 UC Davis. They kept their winning streak going the second day, winding up with a perfect 4-0 record with wins against No. 11 Indiana (10-7) and Bucknell (7-4).

There was plenty of action besides the Aztec Individual last weekend.

No. 10 San Jose State vs. No. 1 USC, March 15
Eleven different scorers enabled the USC Trojans to crush the San Jose State Spartans 18-4. Kelly Mendoza and Monica Vavic scored a hat trick each to lead the Women of Troy, USC had a 5-0 lead after the first period and was ahead 10-1 at the half. Scoring for the Spartans were Bianca Seyfert, Anna Natalizio, Timi Molnar and Rae Lekness.

No. 5 California vs. No. 3 ASU, March 16
In the first-ever women's water polo game shown on the Pac-12 networks, the third-ranked Sun Devils came back from two goals down to defeat the Golden Bears, 10-9, in Berkeley. The game went back and forth as Arizona State held off most of Cal's rallies. ASU was ahead 7-5 midway through the third quarter; Cal scored the next four goals to take a 9-7 lead with 4:55 left in the contest. Alicia Brightwell scored four goals for the Sun Devils; Emily Csikos countered with four of her own for Cal.

No. 3 ASU vs. No. 17 Pacific, March 17
The Sun Devils traveled to Stockton the next day to meet No. 19 Pacific. Brightwell scored four more goals as ASU defeated the Tigers 11-6. Taylor Adair netted a hat trick for the Tigers. E.B. Keeve had seven saves for the Sun Devils, and Michele Relton blocked 10 shots for Pacific.

ASU matched their best start through 20 games, currently sporting a 16-4 record (3-1 in conference). The Tigers' loss snapped the team's seven-game winning streak, bringing their record to 14-7 this season.

No. 16 UC Davis vs. No. 7 San Diego State, March 15
Taelor Moreno scored twice, just a minute apart in the fourth quarter, to break a 7-7 tie and give San Diego State a 9-7 victory over UC Davis in San Diego. The Aggies had a 4-1 lead at the half, but a three-goal third quarter and four-goal fourth quarter gave the Aztecs the victory. Carmen Eggert scored three goals for the Aggies, with Jessica Dunn adding two. Amber Pezzolla, Alex Ford and Taelor Moreno each put the ball in the net twice for the Aztecs.

No. 8 Hawai'I vs. No. 6 UC Irvine, March 14
Before Hawai'I competed at the Aztec Invitational, the Rainbow Wahine arrived early on the mainland to take on UC Irvine at the Anteater Aquatics Complex. In a thrilling match, the score was tied 2-2 after the first quarter and 5-5 at the half. Hawai'I scored five goals in the third quarter; the Anteaters responded with three in the third and two in the fourth quarter to send the game to sudden death overtime. Monika Eggens and Amarens Genee scored three goals apiece for the Rainbow Wahine; Hannah Croghan was the Anteaters' high scorer with four.

No. 8 Hawai'I vs. No. 9 Cal State Long Beach, March 15
Hawai'I went up the road a bit to Long Beach to take on Big West foe Long Beach State. After handing the Anteaters their first league loss in three years, the Rainbow Wahine handed the 49ers their first loss in 14-matches with a 12-7 victory. Hawaii was then 9-5 overall.

Monika Eggens accounted for half of Hawaii's goals with six, with Emily Carr putting three in the net and Danielle Lewis two. Coriann Snyder scored three for Long Beach State, with Christina Kotsia and Chelsea Parks each getting two goals. Hawai'I scored on its first two possessions, and that set the scene for the Rainbow Wahine triumph. They led 7-3 at the half and went on a 4-0 scoring run starting in the third quarter.

No. 11 Indiana vs. Wagner
Indiana competed in the Lancer Invitational March 15, hosted by California Baptist University in Riverside. The Hoosiers held on as the host Lancers kept battling throughout the entire contest, which ended in a 9-8 overtime victory for Indiana. The score was 3-3 after the first and 4-3 at half. Indiana was rarely ahead by more than one goal throughout the contest. Jakie Kohli shot the go-ahead goal for the Hoosiers in the second overtime period. Kohli wound up the contest with four goals, with Shae Fournier contributing two. Laura Kocsis put in four goals for California Baptist.

Indiana then had to come from behind to earn a 9-6 victory against Wagner. Wagner scored two quick goals on the way to a 4-4 tie at halftime. Indiana took a lot of shots, but they either hit the post or blocked by Wagner's goalie, Laura Karbach. Kohli and Fournier scored right at the beginning of the third quarter, which gave the Hoosiers their first lead of the match.

More information on the Lancer Invitational can be found here: http://www.cbulancers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=37587&SPID=3054&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=206771960&DB_OEM_ID=8100

Occidental vs. No. 13 Cal State Northridge, March 14
Bucknell vs. No. 13 Cal State Northridge, March 14
Cal State Northridge tuned up for the Aztec Invitational with a couple of non-conference matches against Bucknell University and Occidental at the Matador Pool. In the Bucknell game, the Matadors had a balanced scoring attack as nine players scored at least one goals to defeat the Lady Bisons 18-7. Marisa Young led CSUN's attack with four goals, with Molly Henehan added three.

The Matadors earned their largest margin of victory this season with a 21-6 drubbing of Occidental College in a non-league match at Matador Pool. The 21 goals were one short of the school's record 22 goals scored against LaVerne last season. Ten different Matadors scord at least one goal. Jenny Jamison had the most with four goals; Lindsy Nelson and Celena Photopulos added three each.

No. 15 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 14 Loyola Marymount, March 14
Loyola Marymount returned to the Burns Aquatic Center on LMU's campus to play their first home match in nearly two months. It wasn't a happy homecoming as they fell to 9-7 overall to the UCSB Gauchos, 10-9. The Lions scored the first three goals of the contest, including two by Mackenzie Beck, on their way to a 5-3 halftime lead. A seesaw battle ensued for most of the second half, culminating in Rachel Nelson's 6-on-5 goals with 3:39 to play for the Gauchos. Jessie Porter then got UCSB's game-winning goal with 2:36 to play. LMU had a chance at the buzzer, but goalie Ruth Milne made the save.

Cal State San Bernardino vs. No. 14 Loyola Marymount, March 16
Colorado State vs. No. 14 Loyola Marymount, March 16
Loyola Marymount rebounded two days later, thanks to solid defensive work, and swept a pair of conference victories against Colorado State (16-7) and Cal State San Bernardino (15-3) at the Burns Aquatic Center. Alexandra Honny scored seven goals for the Lions in the Rams game. She also recorded nine steals. Ten different LMU players scored against the Coyotes, including three first-quarter goals by Mackenzie Beck. In both games, the Lions leaped out to a 10-1 lead and never looked back.

No. 15 UC Santa Barbara, March 16
After playing Loyola Marymount, the Gauchos returned to Santa Barbara to host a mini-tournament featuring St. Francis, Marist and Iona. UCSB swept all three matches, defeating the St. Francis Terriers 17-4, the Marist Red Foxes 12-5 and the Iona Gaels 12-7. Freshman Samantha Murphy scored 11 goals for the Gauchos during the tournament, and Jessie Porter totaled 10. Mackenzie Brokaw filled in for Ruth Milne and turned in impressive performances in all three games with 29 saves.

No. 18 Michgan
Michigan hosted its Wolverine Invitational at Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor March 15-16. The 18th-ranked Wolverines enjoyed lopsided victories on the first day, defeating Gannon 17-2 and Mercyhurst 25-3. Michigan scored 42 goals in the two games, with 13 different Wolverines scoring at least one goal. Barbara Lanier was the high-point scorer with six goals, and Audrey Pratt contributed five goals, including a hat trick in the Gannon game. Five others scored hat tricks in the second game: Lauren Dudley, Kelsey Nolan, Kiki Golden, Bryce Beckwith and Lauren Colton.

Michigan had no difficulties on the second day, putting up scores of 20-1 against Notre Dame College and 17-2 versus Siena. Sixteen different Wolverines scored a goal during those two games. Golden put in three-goal efforts in both games, giving her six hat tricks this season–and added two assists and eight steals.

Wolverine Invitational results can be found here: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-wpolo/spec-rel/wpw-invite-2013.html

No. 19 Hartwick
The Hartwick Hawks claimed two more victories this water polo season as they defeated Connecticut College 14-5 and Brown 21-6. That gives the Hawks an 18-7 overall record.

Natalie Seabourn and Lara Dendy Young scored three goals against the Camels to lead the Hawks. Allison Kosich and Katie Ermakova added two goals each. Sami Capparelli led the Hawks' scoring in the second game with six goals. Ermakova added five, with Sasha Freeborn contributing four.

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