Host UC Irvine is Lone Upset Victim on Day One of 2019 Barbara Kalbus Invitational

christmas-pacific-jan19
Pacific's Kyra Christmas delivers AGAIN for the Tigers in first round action at the Barbara Kalbus. Invitational. Photo Courtesy: Pacific Athletics

The first day of the 2019 Barbara Kalbus Invitational saw a lone upset—and it was the host Anteaters of UC Irvine who were the victims. Behind Kyra Christmas, the reigning Golden Coast Conference player of the Year who posted three goals and three assists, Pacific upset UCI 13-11. Brinnley Barthels scored a game-high four goals for the Tigers, while Clara Vulpisi recorded 14 saves in the Pacific cage.

All results for all matches are available here at the Kalbus Invitational Tournament Central.

The Anteaters were led by two goals apiece from Sarah Nichols, Isabel Rack and Piper Smith. For their victory, Pacific advances to an early morning match against the nation’s #2 team, Stanford. The Cardinal cruised to an 18-4 win over CSUN behind four goals each from sisters Mackenzie and Aria Fischer.

[Nation’s Top Women’s Water Polo Teams Gather at UC Irvine for the Barbara Kalbus Invitational]

The top-seeded Trojans had little trouble with San Diego State, opening up a 10-2 first half lead before downing the Aztecs 13-5 behind Elise Stein’s four goals and goalies Amanda Longan and Holly Parker. USC advances to face Arizona State, a 9-6 winner over UC Santa Barbara. It’s the Sun Devils second-straight victory over the Gauchos; two weeks ago at the Triton Invitational in San Diego, ASU scored a 7-5 win.

Longans_FN_MAY18

Hard to believe ANYONE can beat USC’s Amanda Longan, who’s giving up less than three goals a game. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne

After a scare last week against UCI, where it took overtime before they subdued the feisty Anteaters, UCLA beat Long Beach State 16-6. Senior Sarah Sheldon scored a game and career-high three goals to propel the Bruins to a morning match against Michigan. The Wolverines were 11-9 winners over hard-luck Loyola Marymount; five of the Lions’ six losses have come by two goals are less to higher-ranked opponents.

#4 Cal took a 15-7 decision over UC San Diego. Kitty Lynn Joustra scored a career-high five goals, including the first four of the game, as the Golden Bears raced out to an 8-1 lead early in the second period and never looked back. They will face #5 Hawai’i this morning in one of the day’s most compelling match-ups. The Rainbow Wahine were 13-5 winners over San Jose State behind two goals apiece from Emma van Rossum, Femke Aan and Bernadette Doyle. A win today by Maureen Cole’s squad would be its first over Cal in three years, when Hawai’i won a second-round game at the 2016 Kalbus Invitational.

Other notable match-ups for Day Two in Irvine include San Diego State versus UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego against San Jose State and LMU facing Long Beach State. Host UCI will look to get back to winning with a match against CSUN.

The afternoon set will see eight more matches, as top-seeds USC, Stanford, UCLA and Cal all look to advance to the Kalbus semifinals which—barring an upset—will likely be an all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation affair.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x