CSUN Suffers a Pair of Defeats on Final Day of UCI Invite

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Water Polo (5-10) concluded its stay at the UC Irvine Invitational and suffered a pair close losses on Sunday afternoon. The Matadors lost to No. 14 Loyola Marymount, 8-5, in the morning match and No. 19 San Diego State defeated CSUN, 8-6. Madeleine Sanchez scored in both matches and tallied three on Sunday while Taitum Herrington hit two against the Aztecs. Amy Yule, Paula Abellan Garcia, McKenzie Pollei, Katelyn Fairchild and Miranda Coleman all recorded goals and Niki Van Vugt posted a career-high 14 saves against SDSU.

After dropping both matches on Saturday afternoon, the Matadors jumped out to a fast start in their first contest on Sunday against Loyola Marymount. CSUN built an early lead with a three-goal first quarter. Pollei got the offense rolling with a tally at the 4:08 mark of the period. LMU was able to square the match at 1-1 on a goal from Emily Byrne but Sanchez put CSUN back on top a minute later. Yule added to the lead with 1:09 left in the period to conclude a strong stretch for the Matadors.

The teams went back-and-forth in the second as LMU struck first before CSUN went ahead 4-2 on a score from Abellan Garcia with 4:07 left to go in the first half. The Lions though responded quickly with a tally 00:11 later. The Matadors held the advantage over the final 3:56 of the half to lead by a goal at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Lions would take control of the contest with a strong period. Hana Villanova tied the match early in the period and Ashtynn Nelson gave her team the lead with a tally with 1:10 left to go. The Matadors were unable to hit the scoring column in the eight-minute session and headed to the fourth trailing 6-4.

The Matadors scored out of the gate in the first minute of the fourth as Sanchez netted her second of the game to bring CSUN to within 6-5. A comeback would not be in the cards however, as the Matadors hit a dry spell over the final 7:34. The Lions added two insurance goals down the stretch to pull off the 8-5 win.

CSUN: 3-1-0-1 = 5
LMU: 1-2-3-2 = 8

CSUN Goal Scorers: Sanchez 2 (34), Yule (17), Abellan Garcia (10), Pollei (6)
LMU Goal Scorers: Byrne 2, Villanova 2, Nelson, Alvarez, Castro, Lee

CSUN GK Saves: Van Vugt 6
LMU GK Saves: Flores 11

-------------------------------------
In the afternoon match, CSUN and San Diego State battled in a close game in the first half. The Aztecs opened up the scoring with a tally at the 5:12 mark of the first but CSUN would tie the match at 1-1 on a goal from Herrington.

The teams would then engage in a defensive struggle as neither side hit the net for nearly the length of a full quarter. The game remained tied at about the halfway mark of the second period as SDSU scored to take a 2-1 advantage. CSUN could not get the offense going in the period and went scoreless for the entire quarter while the Aztecs took a 3-1 lead into halftime after scoring again with 1:39 left in the half.

After intermission, the Aztecs' Ioli Benekou scored her second of four goals in the match midway through the third period to add to the lead. Miranda Coleman broke the Aztecs' scoring run with a tally with 3:21 left in the period to bring CSUN to within two but the Matadors surrendered a goal with just over a minute left in the third to fall behind 5-2 heading to the fourth.

With 5:57 left in the contest, San Diego State added another goal to take its biggest lead at 6-2. Looking up at its largest deficit, the Matadors went to work and rallied in the closing minutes. Herrington found the netting to cut the deficit to three and Sanchez got into the scoring column moments later to bring CSUN closer with 4:00 left. After San Diego State pushed the lead back to three, both Yule and Fairchild connected on tallies to cut the lead to 7-6 with 1:11 left on the clock.

Despite a strong fourth period, the Matadors could not push across the equalizer as Benekou recorded her fourth goal of the match with 00:32 left to seal the win.

The Matadors travel next to Azusa Pacific to face both the host Cougars and CSU Bakersfield in a pair of matches on Saturday, March 5. CSUN will face APU at 10 a.m. and square off against CSUB at 1 p.m.

CSUN: 1-0-1-4 = 6
SDSU: 1-2-2-3 = 8

CSUN Goal Scorers: Herrington 2 (6), Sanchez (35), Yule (18), Fairchild (11), Coleman (5)
SDSU Goal Scorers: Benekou 4, Gums, Israels, Magro, Schneider

CSUN GK Saves: Van Vugt 14
SDSU Saves: Mitchell 9

CSUN Suffers a Pair of Defeats on Final Day of UCI Invite

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Paula Abellan Garcia

Miranda Coleman

Katelyn Fairchild

Taitum Herrington

McKenzie Pollei

Madeleine Sanchez

Niki Van Vugt

Amy Yule