WATER POLO WEDNESDAY

As women’s collegiate water polo competition comes to a close and conference championships are on the horizon, matches among conference foes took center stage in last week’s action. Only two tournaments were held this past weekend.

Santa Clara University hosted their Bronco Tournament April 6-7, with No. 8 Hawaii, 11th-ranked Loyola Marymount, No. 17 UC San Diego, CSU East Bay, Sonoma State, Colorado State and CSU Monterey Bay joining Santa Clara. And the Brown Bears hosted the Bruno Water Polo Invitational April 5-7, with third-ranked Arizona State, 15th ranked Michigan and No. 20 Hartwick competing with Cal State Bakersfield and Marist.

Bronco Tournament April 6-7
For a complete list of tournament schedules and results, please go to: http://www.santaclarabroncos.com/sports/w-wpolo/2012-13/the_broncos

Contests involving the top three teams included:

No. 8 Hawai’I
The Rainbow Wahine only competed on Sunday, but made the most of their time at the Bronco Tournament with wins over Cal State East Bay and Colorado State.

Hawai’i began their match with the Pioneers with a 10-1 halftime advantage. East Bay scored four goals in the second half, but the damage had been done. The final score read Hawai’I 16, Cal State East Bay 5. Paula Chillida Esforzado led the Rainbow Wahine with a hat trick as 11 team members scored at least one goal. Claire Pierce scored three goals for East Bay, with Charlie Warburton earning the other.

Hawai’i went on to defeat Colorado State 18-7. Hawaii outscored the Rams 5-3 in the first period and extended their lead to 9-4 at the half. Amarens Genee scored a season-high seven goals for the Rainbow Wahine, with teammate Monika Eggens adding six. Shelby Schaefer put the ball in the net four times for the Rams, and Ariel Arcidiacono added two.

No. 11 Loyola Marymount
The Lions won both their contests on Saturday with an 8-2 victory over the Broncos and a 13-3 triumph over Cal State Monterey Bay.

Santa Clara took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter–then LMU took over and dominated the rest of the game. The Lions held the Broncos scoreless for the remainder of the game, while Alexandra Honny earned a natural hat trick in the fourth period and Beck scored twice. Kaitlin Murphy and Claire Eadington scored goals for Santa Clara.
The Lions held the Otters to two scoreless quarters and led from start to finish with a quick offense. Honny scored four more goals, with Morgan Bonk and Ivana Castro netting two apiece. Scoring for Sant aclara were Kylie Fields, Jackie Walters and Samantha Whitecotten.

No. 17 UC San Diego
The Tritons can now claim a 18-12 overall record and 6-0 WWPA conference record after their four victories at the Bronco Invitational.

They began the tournament with an 11-5 triumph over Colorado State. UCSD scored three goals in each of the first two periods. Colorado State scored three goals in the second quarter to keep things relatively close, finishing 6-3 at halftime. The Tritons put four goals in the net during the third period to pull away from the Rams. Sarah Lizotte and Leah Gonzales put in hat tricks for the Tritons; Shelby Schaefer had one for the Rams.

Later in the day, UCSD took care of Sonoma State, defeating them 14-5. UCSD leaped out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter and was ahead 7-3 at halftime over the Seawolves. Lizotte scored four goals in the game to add to her hat trick in the Colorado State game. Colette Reid put two in the net for the Seawolves.

The next day, the Tritons began with a 12-6 win over Cal State Monterey Bay. They outscored the Otters 5-1 in the first quarter and built up a 7-1 lead at halftime. Monterey Bay and UCSD each scored five goals in the second half, but it just wasn’t enough for the Otters. Lizotte scored five goals, and Melissa Bartow and Jolene Guilliana chipped in two each. Christina Keller scored two for Monterey Bay.

The game against Cal State East Bay proved to be the closest match of the four for the Tritons, as they held on for a 12-10 victory. Each team scored three goals in the first quarter; UCSD netted five goals in the second quarter for an 8-5 advantage at the half. The Pioneers tried hard, scoring four goals in the final quarter, but defensive play by UCSD held them off. Alexis Wieseler scored four goals to lead the Tritons, as did Claire Pierce and Sara Hudyn for the Pioneers.

Bruno Invitational, April 5-7
No. 3 Arizona State
Arizona State had a perfect 5-0 record at the end of the invitational. They began their part of the tournament with wins over Marist (14-2) and Brown (16-5).

With four goals apiece from Alicia Brightwell and Shannon Haas, the Sun Devils fought off a determined No. 20 Hartwick, 10-7. Hartwick was hopeful of avenging a prior defeat to ASU March 25, but was unsuccessful. Sami Capparelli scored three goals for the Hawks, with Katie Ermakova contributing two.

Arizona State then earned a 10-8 victory over 15th-ranked Michigan. They trailed the Wolverines 3-2 in the first quarter, but rebounded to take a 5-4 lead into the half. The Sun Devils then scored three goals in the third quarter to put the game away to lead 8-5. Alicia Brightwell scored five goals for ASU on just seven shots, with Shannon Haas and Searra Silverberg contributing two goals to the game. Kiki Golden was the only multiple scorer for Michigan, putting in two goals.

ASU ended their tournament with a 17-8 winning effort against No. 15 Harvard. The Crimson trailed by only 5-4 after the first period. The Crimson could only score four more goals the remainder of the game; ASU was able to match its highest goal output this season. Brightwell scored three goals to lead the Sun Devils, and ten other teammates scored at least one goal. ASU improved to 24-5 on the season.

No. 15 Michigan
Michigan began with an upset loss to No. 20 Hartwick, 10-6. This win gave Hartwick the CWPA Western Division regular season title. The Wolverines took a 2-0 at the beginning of the first quarter, but the Hawks answered back with four goals to take a two-goal lead at the end of the quarter. Michigan scored a single goal to bring the score to 4-3 at the half. Trading goals through the third period, the score was 6-5, Hartwick, at the end of the quarter. The Hawks scored four goals in the final period to come out on top. Sami Capparelli scored five goals to lead Hartwick, with Sasha Freeborn netting two. Bryce Beckwith led the Wolverines with two goals.

Michigan also gained victories over Cal State Bakersfield (12-5) and and Brown (11-7).

No. 20 Hartwick
Besides the Michigan win and the loss to Arizona State, Hartwick claimed victory at the invitational over Brown (15-6) and CSU Bakersfield (14-8).

INDIVIDUAL CONTESTS

No. 1 USC vs. No. 11 Loyola Marymount, April 4
No. 1 USC vs. No. 7 UC Irvine, April 6
USC remained undefeated with a 19-0 record, defeating LMU 17-6. The Lions held the Trojans close through the first nine minutes of the game, keeping the goal differential to one throughout that time. USC put together a 6-0 run in the second period to widen the gap considerably to 10-3 at the half. USC put in six more goals during the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Scoring four goals each were USC’s Monica Vavic and LMU”s Laura Lopez.

The Women of Troy made it 20-0 for the season to date with their 11-3 triumph over UC Irvine. USC broke open a 3-3 tie in the second period with eight unanswered goals to put the Anteaters away. The offense was led by Hannah Buckling’s three-goal effort, with Kaleigh Gilchrist adding two. Hillary Estrada, Michaela Pierandozzi and McKenna Mitchell were the Anteater goal scorers.

No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 4 UCLA, April 6
The Stanford Cardinal celebrated their Senior Day by limiting the UCLA Bruins to a single goal in the fourth period by Emily Donohoe en route to an 8-1 win. Kate Baldoni made seven saves for Stanford, and the defense held the Bruins scoreless for 27:15 of the game to greatly aid in the triumph. Kaley Dodson, Alexis Lee and Melissa Seidemann scored two goals apiece to lead Stanford. Stanford now has a 23-1 overall record (4-0 in MPSF conference), while UCLA fell to 21-4 (3-2 MPSF).

No. 5 California vs. No. 10 San Jose State, April 6
No. 5 California vs. No. 11 Loyola Marymount, April 7
Pippa Saunders and Ashley Young each scored hat tricks to lead the Bears past the San Jose Spartans, 11-8, at San Jose’s home pool. That gave California its first MPSF conference victory.

The two teams were tied 2-2 after the first period, then California went up 5-4 at the half. Both teams put three goals in the net during the third period, with California putting three more in the fourth quarter for their final 11-8 score. Dana Ochsner added two goals for the Bears, and the Spartans’ Timi Molnar, Victoria Smith and Rae Lekness each put in two as well.

Cal returned home the next day and honored their seven graduating seniors. The Bears defeated Loyola Marymount 12-4. Emily Csikos scored a goal for the Bears, giving her 212 career goals and placing her in a tie for the all-time scoring lead. Ochsner and Breda Vosters put in three goals each with Kelly McKee adding two. For the Lions, Alexandra Honny got two more goals, with Laura Lopez and Danielle Johnson adding one each.

No. 6 San Diego State vs. No. 16 UC Santa Barbara, April 6
The sixth-ranked Aztecs found themselves upset by the 16th-ranked Gauchos in a road loss, 8-5. San Diego State fell to 20-9 overall and 4-2 in the Big West conference standings, moving them a half-game back of Hawai’i.

UCSB took a 3-2 lead after the first period, and never looked back. They allowed San Diego State one goal in each of the last three periods, while the Gauchos scored two in the second and three in the third period. Alex Ford and Taelor Moreno led the Aztecs with two goals each; Kacey Creek and Samantha Murphy each earned a hat trick for the Gauchos.

No. 13 Cal State Northridge vs. No. 7 UC Irvine
The Matadors scored a single goal in the first period, and UC Irvine missed its first seven shots, to give Cal State Northridge a 1-0 lead over the Anteaters. UC Irvine then put its defense to work, limiting CSUN to three goals in the second half and put two goals in the net in the second quarter and three more in the third. UC Irvine rebounded from their loss to USC with their 6-4 victory over Cal State Northridge. Hannah Croghan and McKenna Mitchell led the Anteaters with two goals each; Marisa Young was the star for CSUN with a hat trick.

No. 8 Hawai’I vs. No. 18 UC Davis, April 5
No. 8 Hawai’I vs. No. 19 Pacific, April 6
Hawai’I began its Northern California road trip with a 14-12 win over No. 18 UC Davis. The Rainbow Wahine led 5-2 after the first period and 9-4 at the half, building as much as a seven-goal lead during the contest. Amarens Genee led Hawaii with five goals; Paula Chillida Esforzado contributed four, with Monika Eggens and Danielle Lewis each adding two. Kathryn Bailey, Jessica Dunn and Carmen Eggert each scored a hat trick for the Aggies. This marked the team’s second victory over UC Davis, defeating them 14-8 at the Stanford Invitational in February.

The Rainbow Wahine had a tougher time in Stockton, edging Pacific 12-11. Hawai’I improved to a 15-9 overall (5-1 Big West) record. The two teams went back and forth throughout the match, tied 3-3 after the first period and 5-5 at halftime. The third quarter was the key for Hawai’I, as they scored four goals to the Tigers’ three. Pacific’s Malena Prlain scored a goal during the final seconds of the game, but it wasn’t enough.

Eggens had a five-goal game, with Emily Carr, Esforzado and Genee putting in two each. Pacific was led by Taylor Adair’s five goals (her career high) plus Prlain’s and Elise Martin’s two-goal efforts.

No. 13 Cal State Northridge vs. No. 9 Cal State Long Beach
With a 6-2 run in the first half, the 49ers defeated the Matadors 11-5. This win enabled Long Beach State to enjoy a record better than .500 in conference play for the first time since they joined the Big West Conference. The 49ers are also in line to tie the school record for most wins during a season (24, set in 2003).

After the first period, the score was tied 2-2. Long Beach State then went on a 4-0 run to take the lead at 6-2 going into the second half. The Beach extended their lead to 8-3 after the third quarter, and put three more in the fourth for their 11 goals. The Matadors rallied with two scores in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 11-5. Chelsea Parks led CSULB with four goals, the fifth time she has done so this season. Claire Martin’s hat trick also helped the scoring effort. Kelsie Ferreira led the Matadors with her three goals.

No. 20 Hartwick vs. Siena, April 2
Hartwick used a 10-1 scoring run midway through the second half as a springboard to their 19-7 victory against the Saints. The Hawks had a 23-9 record at that point of the season. The Saints struck first with just 19 seconds in the first period. That would be their lone goal of the period, while Hartwick scored six. Each team scored three goals in the second quarter, bringing the score to 9-4, Hartwick. The Saints narrowed the lead to 9-6 halfway through the period, then the Hawks went to work.

Allison Kosich, Sasha Freeborn, Lara Dendy Young and Sami Caparelli all scored hat tricks for the Hawks; Katie Ermakova chipped in two. Jacquelyn Verdon led the Saints with three goals, and Lea Allen added two.

Championship Preview
Conference championship action begins this weekend, with the CWPA Western Championship in Geneva, Ohio and the CWPA Southern Division Championships in Providence, Rhode Island.

Hartwick, ranked 20th in the nation, earned the top seed in the Western Division, followed by Michigan (15), Indiana (14), Gannon and Notre Dame (Ohio). Michigan has had a run of nine straight Western divisional titles, and the other four schools will be looking to change that. Hartwick received the No. 1 seed thanks to their upset victory over the Wolverines at the Brown tournament.

Number 12 Princeton received the top seed in the Southern Division championship, followed by Brown, Harvard, George Washington, Bucknell and Mercyhurst. The Tigers, with a perfect 5-0 conference record, will be trying to defend its title from last year.

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