Courtesy: UC San Diego Athletics
LA JOLLA, Calif. – A last second goal from Annika Arroyo propelled the No. 10 UC San Diego women’s water polo team past No. 12 UC Santa Barbara at Canyonview Aquatic Center in a non-conference match-up. With the 6-5 victory, Tritons improve to 7-3 on the season while the Guachos fall to 3-5.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons started out hot with three goals in the first quarter from Karis Couch, Tera Richardson and Arroyo to take a 3-2 lead at the end of the quarter. The Gaucho defense locked down and held the Tritons scoreless through the next two quarters.
UC Santa Barbara took their first lead of the day when Caitlyn Synder scored with 2:19 left to give the Gauchos a 4-3 lead. Both teams would go through a scoring drought that would last nearly seven minutes until Sydney Boland found the back of the cage to tie the game up at 4-4.
With 28 seconds left in the game, Ciara Franke gave the Tritons the one goal advantage with her first goal of the day. The Gauchos took a timeout and scored on the following position to tie the game up with 11 seconds left in the game. Grace Pevehouse found Arroyo who scored with one second left in the game to ice it for the Gauchos.
FROM THE COACH
“Super proud of this team for coming back again. This is multiple times they have done that this year. I told our team in the beginning that learning how to win is something that can’t be taught, something people feel and this team knows how to win. I’m super proud of their constant efforts to never give up,” stated Head Coach Brad Kreutzkamp. “Having the freshman score the winning goal I think it just says the depth of our team and I could not be more happy. It all started with our defense today for sure with Bennett in the cage again, being not only one of the best goalies in the conference but in the nation.”
TRITON TIDBITS
- Bennett Bugelli finished the game with 11 saves including a key penalty save. She also added a steal.
- This marks the first time the Tritons have defeated the Gauchos in back-to-back contests since 2016.
- Arroyo had a team high two goals.
- The Tritons took 26 shots compared to the Gauchos 20.
UP NEXT
The Tritons will take their longest road trip of the season when they visit UC Davis. Their conference game with be at 12:00 pm on April 2 and they will play a non-conference game at 4:00 p.m. that same day.
Courtesy: UC Santa Barbara Athletics
SAN DIEGO, Calif. –
The No. 12 UC Santa Barbara women’s water polo team 3-4, 1-1 Big West) suffered a heartbreaking defeat at tenth-ranked UC San Diego, falling 7-6 in sudden death overtime on Friday night at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
A Triton goal by Ciara Franke with three seconds left in the seventh period was the game-winner in the contest.
Redshirt sophomore attacker Sarah Owens scored the first goal of the contest for the Gauchos with 5:20 remaining in the first period before Jessee Ransone tied things up for UCSD shortly afterward.
Junior attacker Amanda Legaspi put UCSB ahead 2-1 with 2:29 left in the first, but again UCSD found the answer on the powerplay through Sydney Boland.
Both teams mirrored each other in the second period as well, with Gaucho freshman attacker Leigh Lyter and UCSD’s Franke exchanging scores to keep the game tied at 3-3.
Franke scored her second goal of the contest and the hosts’ second powerplay goal of the evening with 3:28 to go until halftime, giving UCSD its first lead of the game.
However, freshman attacker Nina Munson ensured that the game was tied at the half with a late goal with 1:36 left until the break.
When the action returned, UCSD rattled off back-to-back goals less than a minute apart via Ransone and Annika Arroyo, as the Tritons took the first two-goal lead of the game by either team.
Senior attacker Mollie Simmons brought the Gauchos back within one with 2:37 left in the third period, and the next goal didn’t come until the 4:43 mark in the fourth when sophomore utility Courtney Heydorff’s shot found the back of the net to make it a 6-6 game.
Following the frantic final minutes of regulation, the game moved into overtime, during which the defenses reigned supreme.
The contest transitioned into a sudden-death seventh period and the teams remained deadlocked until there were just three seconds left in the period and Franke completed her hat trick and ended the match.
The Gauchos and Tritons face off again tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. Live stats will be available on UCSBGauchos.com.