Women’s Collegiate Water Polo Conference Championships: Second Round

The second day of women's collegiate water polo action served to determine which teams would face off for championship titles and secure one of eight spots in the upcoming NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships May 8-10 at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. The two at-large teams (automatic bids are given to conference champions) will be determined on Monday, and Swimming World will let you know who the two lucky teams are.

Big West Championships, Irvine, California
Cal State Northridge Matadors 8, Pacific Tigers 7
With just 13 seconds to play, Cal State Northridge's Melissa Doll gave the Matadors an 8-7 victory over Pacific and avoid overtime.

Taylor Adair scored first for the Tigers. On goals by Leah Janke and Marisa Young, Northridge took a 2-1 lead. Elise Martin tied it up with 31 seconds left in the period. Martin and Rebecca Wright gave Pacific a 4-2 advantage in the second period, but Northridge's Jenny Jamison closed the gap to 4-3 at the half. Teammate Katie Kammer scored twice, while the Tigers were held scoreless. Each team scored three times in the final period, with Doll's shot giving the Matadors the one-goal victory. The Tigers tried in the final seconds with a 6-on-5, but couldn't hit the net.

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 10, UC Davis Aggies 9
In another close contest, UC Santa Barbara rebounded from yesterday's loss to San Diego State with a 10-9 victory over UC Davis.

UCSB's Samantha Murphy scored less than a minute into the game off a penalty shot. UC Davis' Erin Schlueter and Carmen Eggert scored for a 2-1 advantage after the first period. The Aggies' Elise Fullerton earned her team's third straight goal 50 seconds into the second period. Claryann Oloffson-Loo scored just 10 seconds later. Murphy's second goal tied the game at 3-3. UCSB's third straight goal came from Bryn Hudson. UC Davis brought the score to 6-4 at the half from goals by Eggert and Michelle Dunn.

UC Davis' Eggert had a power play goal to open scoring in the third period to quickly take a 7-4 lead. Murphy's hat trick tightened UC Davis' lead to three, and Lauren Martin's two goals narrowed the lead to just one, 8-7, at the end of three periods of play. UCSB's Murphy tied the score, then Jade Wentz-Fitzgerald gave the Gauchos a 9-8 lead. Dunn scored again, but Shelby Harrison answered for UCSB. Ruth Milne made two key saves for the Gauchos at the end of the game to preserve the victory.

Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine 10, Cal State Long Beach 49ers 5
Monika Eggers opened up scoring with two goals in the first period for the Rainbow Wahine, earned a hat trick with 3:57 left in the second period and wound up the match with five goals to lead Hawai'i over Cal State Long Beach.

Hawai'i scored the first five goals of the match (four by Eggers, one by Amarens Genee). Chelsea Parks scored for the 49ers with just seven seconds left to halftime. Christina Kotsia scored early in the third period, bringing the deficit down to 5-2. Hawai'i regained its five-goal lead with goals from Genee and Danielle Wilson. Coriann Snyder scored with 37 seconds left to make the third period score 7-3, Hawai'i. Back-and-forth scoring marked the final frame, with Hawai'i emerging victorious 10-5.

UC Irvine Anteaters 7, San Diego State Aztecs 5
Less than one minute into the game, Emily Whalen gave San Diego State an early lead. Later in the period, UC Irvine took a 2-1 advantage. There was no scoring in the first six minutes of the second period; McKenna Mitchell stopped the drought with a goal for the Anteaters. Taelor Moreno countered for the Aztecs, but UCI got a 6-on-4 goal to bring the score to 4-2 at the half.

Mitchell and San Diego State's Amber Pezzolla were the only goal scorers in the third period, making it 5-3 going into the final quarter. UC Irvine got an early power play goal, with Alex Ford getting one back for the Aztecs. Pezzola made it 6-5 with her second goal of the match. Hannah Croghan scored the final goal for the Anteaters with 53 seconds left.

Championship Finals
Hawai'i and UC Irvine, the two top seeds going into the tournament, will play for the championship. UC Irvine is the defending champ, but this is the first Big West championship match ever for the Rainbow Wahine. Fighting for third place will be San Diego State and Cal State Long Beach. Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara will compose the fifth-place match, and UC Davis and Pacific will play for seventh place.

CWPA Eastern Championships, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Connecticut College Camels 9, Mercyhurst Lakes 7
Connecticut College–the Division 3 champion–upset Mercyhurst 9-7. Ashley Amey, Connecticut's goalie, was named Player of the Game with 10 total saves, five coming in the fourth quarter.

COnnecticut built a 5-1 first quarter lead. Mercyhurst's Cailin Jope got the scoring started 56 seconds into the match. Then the Camels got to work with two scores by Nicky Jasbon and one goal each by Kate Jacobson, Sam Pierce and Kelsey Millward. Mercyhurst got goals in the second quarter from Jope and Lisett Calderon. The score was 5-4 at the half. IN the third quarter, both teams enjoyed three-goal streaks. Connecticut's came first with scores from Jacobson, Jasbon and Isabelle Baneux; Mercyhurst answered back in the last two minutes of the period with two more by Jope and one from Calderon. Pierce tallied the only goal of the fourth period for the 9-7 Camel victory. This ensures the best finish ever at the CWPA Eastern tournament by a Division 3 squad.

Gannon Golden Knights 8, Notre Dame Falcons 7
Gannon goalie Janelle Bartman was awarded Player of the Game honors, stopping eight shots (four in the fourth period).

Janelle McDaniels of Gannon scored 40 seconds in; 34 seconds later, Notre Dame's Demi Barnett put the ball in the goal. The Golden Knights' Bailey Gadd scored on a penalty shot, with the Falcons' Gina-Bella Mata'afa tying it up at 2-2. The second period went much the same way. Gannon received goals from Katelyn Jacobs, Gadd, Shannon Lazenby and McDaniels; Mata'afa scored two goals for Notre Dame, and Kanoe Lyons got a 6-on-5 to end the second period at 6-5.

Elena Williams tied it up for Notre Dame in the third, but Gannon's Kelly Steininger answered back. Defense kicked in on both sides, with no scoring occurring for 12:30. Lazenby put in her second goal with 51 seconds left in the match, and Notre Dame's Lyons put the ball in the net with just five seconds remaining.

Brown Bears 12, Bucknell Bison 7
Kate Woods and Liz Rosen, each of whom scored hat tricks for Brown, were named Co-Players of the Game.

Rosen opened up the scoring 28 seconds in. Bucknell's Julianne Valdes and Stephanie Ovalle countered. Woods scored her first goal to being a 5-0 Brown scoring run, and made a second one a minute and a half later. Madison Pepper, Woods (hat trick) and Sarah Presant all scored in the second period for the Bears. Bucknell's Hannah Smiley dropped the streak at the 2:55 mark, and the score was 6-3 at halftime.

Brown's Rosen and Emily McNamara began the third period with scores. Valdes got an exclusion goal at 5:23, but several seconds later Rosen brought the advantage back to 5. The Bisons, however, did not give up. Scores by Valdes and Taylor Barnett brought them back to a 9-6 deficit and, potentially, a comeback. Bucknell's Pepper nixed that idea with her goal with 34 seconds left in the period. Barnett scored the final goal–a penalty shot–for Bucknell. Brown finished up their scoring with goals from Presant and Olivia Santiago.

Harvard Crimson 11, George Washington Colonials 9
Four-goal scorer Aisha Price from harvard earned Player of the Game honors.

George Washington's Rachael Bentley opened the scoring with 33 seconds gone in the first period. It would be the only time Harvard would be behind. They countered with goals from Yoshi Anderson and a penalty shot from Shayna Price to go in front. The Colonials' Erin Donoghue tied it up, but Charlotte Hendrix put Harvard up 3-2. Price received her second penalty shot and George Washington's Bentley scored late in the period for a 4-3 first period score. To begin the second period, the two teams exchanged man-up goals from Price and Katherine Berry. The Crimson scored twice more to give them a 7-4 halftime advantage.

Aisha Price and Victoria Frager's two goals built up the advantage to 10-4 after the third period, and Kalina Grubb made it 11-4 at 6:58 of the fourth quarter. George Washington put together a fourth quarter rally with two goals by Bentley, and one each by Donoghue, Meagan Moreland and Megan Brolley. But it was too little, too late, as Harvard prevailed 11-9.

Michigan Wolverines 6, Indiana Hoosiers 5
Facing 11 shots in the contest–four in the fourth quarter alone–Michigan goalie Alex Adamson earned Player of the Game recognition.

Indiana dominated the first half of the match, leading at halftime 4-3. Michigan came out and outscored the Hoosiers 3-1 to gain the vcitory.

Rebecca Gerrity got the scoring started with 4:15 left in the first period to give Indiana a 1-0 lead after one period of play. Colleen McNaught scored a 6-on-5 for a 2-0 lead, with Michigan's Presley Pender giving Michigan a goal with 43 seconds left. Kelsey Nolan put the ball in the net twice to give the Wolverines a 3-2 advantage. Jakie Kohli (exclusion goal) and Shelby Taylor regained the Indiana lead at 4-3, where it remained at halftime.

Indiana began to pull away with Candyce Schroeder's goal at 3:23 of the third period, but Hathaway Moore brought the deficit back to one at 5-4, Indiana. Michigan's Kiki Golden evened things up with 5:47 left in the game. Just 21 seconds later, Ali Thomason got the game-winning goal for the Wolverines.

Princeton Tigers 12, Hartwick Hawks 11 (OT)
Hartwick opened up with three goals in the first period, thanks to Allison Koshich, Kamala Zakorova and Lily Martinez. Katie Rigler got one back for Princeton. In the second stanza, Camille Hawks scored for the Hawks, with Sami Capparelli putting one in the net for Princeton. Hartwick's Jemma Dendy Young and Princeton's Diana Murphy then exchanged goals. Capparelli's and Martinez's second goals gave Hartwick a 7-4 halftime lead.

The Hawks' Sasha Freeborn and Capparelli made it 9-4 in the third period. Princeton's Murphy and Kelly Gross brought the score to 9-6. Dendy Young upped the score to 10-6 to gegin the second half. Then Princeton mounted a successful comeback, getting two goals from Rigler, Brittany Zwimer and Jessie Holechuk to tie the game and send it to overtime. Rigler's goal with 57 seconds remaining in the second OT period gave Princeton the 12-11 victory.

Championship Schedule
Sunday's championship schedule:
Mercyhurst vs. Notre Dame for 11th place
Connecticut vs. Gannon for ninth place
Bucknell vs. George Washington for seventh place
Brown vs. Harvard for fifth place
Indiana vs. Hartwick for third place
Michigan vs. Princeton for the championship

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Berkeley, California
Stanford Cardinal 11, UCLA Bruins 7
Annika Dries scored the third of her first-period goals for Stanford with 2:39 gone in the first period and wound up with five goals in total. Melissa Seidemann had four for the Cardinal, with single scores from Kiley Neushul and Maggie Steffens. All those were contributing factors to Stanford's 11-7 defeat of UCLA.

Besides Dries' hat trick, Neushul scored in betwen goals from the Bruins' Alexa Tielmann and Becca Dorst, bringing the first-period score to 4-2. Stanford then went on a 5-0 run in the second and third frames to put the game out of reach. UCLA's Rachel Fattal and Ferraro made it 9-4 after three periods of play. Dries' fifth goal came at the 7:41 mark, and Gisselle Naranjo answered 35 seconds later. Seidemann netted her fourth goal to bring the Cardinal lead to 11-5. Ferraro and Lesslee Kaczmarek scored the final two goals for the Bruins.

UC Trojans 11, Arizona State Sun Devils 5
USC scored the first six goals of the match, and ASU was blanked in both the first and fourth quarters, making it an easy 11-5 victory for the Trojans. USC's Flora Bolonyai made nine saves.

The Trojans jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a goal by Madeline Rosenthal plus two goals each from Monica Vavic and Kaleigh Gilbert. Hannah Buckling added one early in the second quarter. Alicia Brightwell finally put the Sun Devils on the board with her goal at the 6:00 mark of the second quarter. Ao Gao made it 6-2, but Katie Sverchek scored with 51 seconds left for a 6-3 USC advantage at the half.

USC and Arizona State traded goals in the third period, with Anni Espar the first scorer of the second half for USC. Arizona State's Shannon Hawes' shot came 1:20 later, followed by USC's Dominique Sardo and Sverchek's second for ASU. USC shut down the Sun Devils in the fourth quarter, getting scores from Espar, Vavic and bialr Moody to end the contest 11-5.

San Jose State Spartans 14, Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners 7
San Jose State led from the beginning, and had leads of 2-0 (first period), 6-3 (third period) and 10-5 (third period) on their way to a 14-7 triumph.

Timi Molnar led the Spartans' scoring with three goals. Rachel Henry, Kimber Methvin, Victoria Smith and Kelli Leabo each put two balls in the net to aid San Jose's cause. Maddie Reardon saved eight shots.

Seven different players scored a single goal for the Roadrunners: Nicola Barrett, Sierra Peltcher, Janelle Shelby, Jessica Browning, Caitlyn Hill, Paige Tsuruda and Sam Shead. Alex Bayer recorded 10 saves in goal.

Championships
With their loss, the Roadrunners' season has ended. San Jose State and California will play for fifth place, and ASU and UCLA will fight for third. Stanford and USC will meet in the championship final. Stanford last won the MPSF championship title in 2006, and USC's last win came in 2009.

Western Water Polo Association, Santa Clara, California
Sonoma State Seawolves 9, Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes 4
Sonoma State scored six second-half goals to advance in the WWPA tournament with a 9-4 victory over Cal State San Bernardino.

Laura Kunz got the scoring started for the Seawolves, followed by Jessica Stansfield two minutes later. The Coyotes were held scoreless in the period. Stansfield got an exclusion goal in the second period, giving Somona State a 3-0 lead. Mary Jane Cooney and Misty Wu closed the gap to 3-2 at halftime for San Bernardino.

Sonoma State widened the gap to 5-2 in the third period on goals by Adrienne Bisharat (exclusion goal) and Natalie Del Carlo. With just four seconds left in the period, Crystal Curran scored for the Coyotes. Sonoma State's Alexa May got an exclusion goal with 18 seconds gone in the fourth quarter, followed less than a minute later by Collette Reid's first goal. Misty Vu closed out the scoring for Cal State San Bernardino at 5:40 in the fourth period. Stansfield added an exclusion goal with 3:30 left to bring the final score to 9-4.

Cal State Monterey Bay Otters 8, Cal State East Bay Pioneers 3
The Otter defense played a key role in the Monterey Bay victory, as East Bay was held to just single goals in the first, second and fourth quarters.

Kylie Fields scored two goals for the Otters and Christina Keller added one to give Monterey Bay a three goal advantage by the time the first four minutes of the game had elapsed. Alilson Zell scored for the Pioneers at 3:09, but a minute later Alex Tyrrell found the net to bring the first quarter score to 4-1. Julie Cooper added a goal for the Otters to start scoring in the second period; Fields earned her hat trick shortly after. East Bay's Claire Pierce shot the first of her two goals. At the half Monterey Bay led 6-2.

Third-period goals from Cooper and Jackie Walters gave the Otters a 8-2 advantage. Pierce's second goal was the only one of the fourth period, comign at the 6:40 mark.

UCSD Tritons 14, Colorado State Rams 6
Leading by just one goal at halftime, UC San Diego outscored Colorado State 7-1 during the second half and had a 9-0 run, to come out on top 14-6. This will mark the fourth straight title game for the Tritons.

UCSD went ahead 3-0 on goals from Rachel Brooks, Sarah Lizotte (power play) and Julia Kirkland (exclusion). The Rams fought back with goals from Ariel Arcidiacono and Stephanie Weed to bring the first period total to 3-2. It was a back-and-forth affair during a good part of the second period. At the 3:29 mark Kelsey Carrigan tied the score. The Tritons rattled off nine straight scores before Kelcy Barrett scored with 39 seconds left in the game.

Sarah Lizotte was the high scorer for UCSD with four goals. Julia Kirkland earned a hat trick, and two goals apiece were turned in by Leah Gonzales, Melissa Bartow and Alexis Wieseler. Arcidiacono was the Rams' high scorer with two goals.

Loyola Marymount Lions 8, Santa Clara Broncos 5
Santa Clara's Julia Peters earned the first goal of the game, scoring at the 5:57 mark of the first period for Santa Clara. Loyola Marymount's Mackenzie Beck tied the game 21 seconds later. Santa Clara went up 2-1 on a Jenny Anderson goal, and seconds later Laura Lopez scored an exclusion goal. Alexandra Honny got a penalty goal to make the score 3-2, LMU. The two teams scored twice in the second period. Peters' second goal and Elle Surber's exclusion goal put Santa Clara up 4-3; Beck and Morgan countered for the Lions' 5-4 halftime advantage.

Less than a minute into the third period, Honny's second goal put LMU up 6-4. Peters' hat trick came halfway through the period on a penalty shot. With just eight seconds left in the quarter, Honny turned in her hat trick for a 7-5 third period lead. Lopez' second goal at 4:29 of the fourth period gave Loyola Marymount their 8-4 victory.

Championship
UC San Diego and Loyola Marymount, the two top seeds going into the tournament, meet for the fourth straight time for the WWPA title. Colorado State will play Santa Clara for third, Sonoma STate and Monterey vie for fifth place, and San Bernardino and East Bay meet to determine seventh place.

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