Matador Offense Explodes in 16-6 Win Over Cal State East Bay

Sunday, January 29

Hayward, CA

11:00 a.m.

California State University at Northridge

Cal State East Bay

Photo by: Richard Quinton

Matador Offense Explodes in 16-6 Win Over Cal State East Bay

1/29/2017 1:57:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

No. 22 CSUN Water Polo (2-6) defeated Cal State East Bay, 16-6, on Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Pool in Hayward, CA. Junior Shannon Hovanesian and freshman Katia Andon-Mateos recorded hat tricks to lead the Matadors while Madeleine Sanchez, Alexis Elias and Paula Abellan Garcia scored twice and Miranda Coleman, Katelyn Fairchild, Lindsey Garcia and McKenzie Pollei all tallied goals in the wire-to-wire victory. Junior goalkeeper Niki Van Vugt helped lead the defensive effort with six saves in front of the cage.

Posting a season-high 16 goals, the Matadors scored early and often on Sunday against the Pioneers. CSUN scored three goals or more in every quarter and never trailed on the afternoon. A total of 11 Matadors registered assists in the match as Emily Fuller, Madasonne Butler and Fairchild all had two. On the defensive side, CSUN collected 18 steals and six field blocks to keep the Pioneers at bay.

Hovanesian opened up the scoring with a goal 41 seconds into the match on a pass from Pollei. Cal State East Bay took advantage of a power play opportunity on a score from Auriel Bill but CSUN owned the final two minutes. Both Sanchez and Hovanesian each struck the back of the net to give the Matadors a 3-1 lead after eight minutes.

After the Pioneers scored on a 6-on-5 advantage to open the second quarter, CSUN would turn the tide of the contest wih a 5-0 run over the final 5:03 of the first half. Coleman and Hovanesian both recorded goals on power plays, and the Matadors later took an 8-2 lead on scores from Fairchild, Elias and Pollei.

With momentum on its side, CSUN put the game out of reach with another strong eight minutes after halftime. The Matadors stretched their lead to seven after Garcia and Elias hit the net near the midway mark of the quarter. Far from done, the Matadors added two more goals as Sanchez scored with under a minute to play and Andon-Mateos collected her first career goal with 10 seconds on the clock.

The Matadors were paced offensively by the tandem of Abellan Garcia and Andon-Mateos in the final period. Abellan Garcia netted her two goals on the day off passes from Jade Arner and Butler while Andon-Mateos pushed her game total to three with a pair of shots in the final 4:33 of the contest. Cal State East Bay collected three goals in the fourth quarter but it would not be enough as the Matadors prevailed by double digits.

With the 10-goal win, the Matadors earned their largest margin of victory since defeating Azusa Pacific, 14-2, last March. Held under 10 goals through the first five matches of the season, CSUN has scored in double digits twice over the last three contests.

With her six saves in the contest, Van Vugt moved ahead of Nicole Concialdi (2007-11) for sole possession of sixth place in the school's all-time saves list with 271 in her career.

The Matadors return to the pool next Friday afternoon (Feb. 3) for a pair of matches at Cal Lutheran. CSUN will take on the host Regals at 11 a.m. and conclude the day with a 1:30 p.m. match versus Cal State Monterey Bay.

CSUN - 3-5-4-4 = 16
CSEB - 1-1-1-3 = 6

CSUN scorers: Andon Mateos 3, Hovanesian 3 (6), Sanchez 2 (11), Abellan Garcia 2, Elias 2, Fairchild (16), Coleman (3), Garcia (2), Pollei (2)
CSEB scorers: Bill 2, Vazquez 2, Tully Carroll

CSUN saves: Van Vugt 6 (60)
CSEB saves: Vaughan 10, Nation