Matadors Post Two Wins to Close out Triton Invite

Northridge, CA---

No. 25 CSUN Water Polo (5-5) posted a pair of victories on day two of the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego to finish in 13^th place at the tournament. The Matadors defeated the Sonoma State Seawolves, 14-5, in the morning game and came from behind to edge the Cal State East Bay Pioneers, 8-6. Madeleine Sanchez scored four goals in each victory and she hit the game-winner against the Pioneers. Sophomore Paula Abellan Garcia registered four tallies on the day while Amy Yule connected on three goals. Niki Van Vugt posted 10 saves in the two matches including seven against Cal State East Bay.

The Matadors led from start to finish against Sonoma State to start the day. CSUN's leading scorer Sanchez got the offense rolling with a pair of goals within a 00:28 span to give CSUN a 2-0 lead at the 6:12 mark of the period. Just minutes later, Yule recorded a goal and Miranda Coleman struck one past the goalkeeper to push the lead to 4-0 with 2:44 left in the quarter.

Throughout the first half, CSUN kept Sonoma State off the scoreboard with strong defense, holding the Seawolves to a single tally in the closing moments of the first period. Meanwhile, CSUN kept the pressure on offense as Lindsey Garcia checked in with her first of two goals on the afternoon, and both Sanchez and Abellan Garcia added to the lead with single scores to push the lead to 7-1 at halftime.

In the opening minutes of the third, the Matadors kept the momentum on their side, scoring six more times. Within a 2:28 span, CSUN pushed through three goals including Sanchez who tallied her game-high fourth goal to extend the advantage to 11-2. Both Taitum Herrington and Emily Fuller also registered tallies as CSUN headed to the fourth ahead by its largest margin at 13-2.

Over the final 8:00, CSUN maintained its lead as Abellan Garcia recorded her third goal of the match. Despite a pair of late scores from the Seawolves, the Matadors held on for the 14-5 win.

Abellan Garcia recorded her first career hat trick in the victory with single tallies in the second, third and fourth periods. Yule and Garcia each scored twice in the match while Coleman, Herrington and Emily Fuller all recorded a goal apiece.

CSUN: 4-3-6-1 = 14
SSU: 1-0-1-3 = 5

CSUN Scorers: Sanchez 4 (25), Abellan Garcia 3 (7), Yule 2 (14), Garcia 2 (7), Coleman (3), Fuller (4), Herrington (4)
Sonoma St. Scorers: Herrera 2, Robinson, Lewis, Brown

CSUN GK Saves: Van Vugt 3 (58), Averell 1 (4)
Sonoma St. GK Saves: Unavailable

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In the afternoon game, the Matadors trailed for most of the contest to Cal State East Bay but a second half rally turned the tide of the contest. Coming in tied for the No. 25 ranking in the country, the two teams played a competitive back-and-forth contest as the Pioneers led throughout the first three quarters before the Matadors caught fire over the final minutes.

CSUN fell behind early, spotting a pair of goals over the first 4:00 of the first quarter. Coleman recorded the Matadors first goal of the game to cut the deficit to 2-1 but CSUN would go scoreless for the remainder of the half.

Meanwhile, the Pioneers found success offensively, striking for a score in the final minute of the first period and adding a fourth goal in the opening 00:39 of the second. The score remained 4-1 with neither side able to break through over the final 7:21 of action before intermission.

After being held to a single tally in the first half, the Matadors came out firing in the third period as three-straight goals squared the game at 4-4. Sanchez hit the net twice within a 2:00 span and Katelyn Fairchild tied the contest at the 1:26 mark of the period.

With its lead disappeared, Cal State East Bay quickly regained its lead. Just 00:19 after Fairchild found the netting, the Pioneers went ahead 5-4 with a little over a minute left in the quarter. Despite falling behind again, the Matadors answered back in swift fashion as Abellan Garcia evened the game just 00:17 later.

The game remained tied at 5-5 in the fourth until Yule gave CSUN its first lead with 6:12 left to play. Now ahead for the first time, the Matadors maintained the lead until Taylor Cross connected on her second goal of the afternoon with 3:44 left to even the game once more.

With the game hanging in the balance, the Matador turned to their leading scorer. After scoring four goals in the opener earlier in the day, Sanchez recorded her third and four goals of the half in the final minutes. The sophomore hit what would be the game-winning tally with 3:08 left and she hit an insurance goal with 00:03 left to secure the win for CSUN.

With eight goals on the day, Sanchez has run her goal-scoring streak to 10-straight matches. Shannon Hovanesian led the Matadors in assists in the two games with four. Fairchild finished with seven steals on Sunday while Abellan Garcia had six.

The Matadors travel to face nationally-ranked USC next Saturday for their first road contest of the season. The game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m.

CSUN: 1-0-4-3 = 8
CSEB: 3-1-1-1= 6

CSUN Scorers: Sanchez 4 (29), Abellan Garcia (8), Yule (15), Coleman (4), Fairchild (8)
CSEB Scorers: Cross 2, Carroll 2, Hatzer, Fesembeck

CSUN GK Saves: Van Vugt 7 (65)
Sonoma St. GK Saves: Unavailable

Matadors Post Two Wins to Close out Triton Invite

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Players Mentioned

Paula Abellan Garcia

Miranda Coleman

Katelyn Fairchild

Emily Fuller

Lindsey Garcia

Taitum Herrington

Shannon Hovanesian

Madeleine Sanchez

Niki Van Vugt

Amy Yule