CSUN Water Polo Falls to UC Davis at the Big West Tournament

Friday, April 28

Davis, CA

12:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

#11 UC Davis

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

CSUN Water Polo Falls to UC Davis at the Big West Tournament

4/28/2017 7:58:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

BOX SCORE

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

Battling UC Davis to a standstill for one half of play, No. 20 CSUN Water Polo (11-20) was unable to overcome a second-half Aggie surge as the Matadors fell in the opening round of the Big West Conference Tournament, 12-7, on Friday afternoon at Schaal Aquatics Center. Junior attacker Madeleine Sanchez led the way with four goals to go along with five steals while senior Emily Fuller, junior Katelyn Fairchild and sophomore Lindsey Garcia had a goal apiece. In the cage, junior Niki Van Vugt posted nine saves and an assist in the match.

CSUN will wrap up its season on Saturday morning with a fifth-place match against UC Santa Barbara at 11 a.m.

Sanchez got the Matadors started off quickly with a goal 22 seconds into the match. The Aggies evened the game up on a power play score from Greta Kohlmoos but Sanchez struck the netting at the 3:36 mark on a pass from Shannon Hovanesian to put the Matadors on top 2-1. Moments later, the Aggies earned a 6-on-5 possession and evened the game at 2-2 on a goal from Paige Virgil.

The score remained tied in the early moments of the second quarter until a costly CSUN foul resulted in a five-meter penalty shot for the Aggies. Virgil took the shot and connected to give her team the lead. Sanchez continued to keep CSUN within striking distance with her third goal at the 5:37 mark off another pass from Hovanesian. UC Davis surged ahead after goals from Sammy Preston and Annie Kutt but the Matadors picked up two goals in the final 2:14 to tie the match once more. Seniors McKenzie Pollei and Fuller teamed up to bring the Matadors one goal closer as Fuller hit the net. Sanchez later squared the match at 5-5 with a shot that snuck into the goal at the near post.

After the two teams traded leads in the first half, the Aggies would take control in the second half. Kohlmoos gave UC Davis the lead at the 6:23 mark of the third period and Virgil netted her third goal moments later to make it a 7-5 game. The run continued with two more Aggies goals as McKenna Hauss and Virgil pushed the lead to four. The Matadors were nearly outscored for the entire third period but Fairchild ended the string with a goal with 18 seconds remaining.

Hauss scored again early on in the fourth and Kohlmoos struck the net at the 6:12 mark to push the lead to 11-6. Garcia connected off a pass from Hovanesian to cut the deficit to four but UC Davis responded with another goal from Kutt with 3:43 left to play. The Aggies held the Matadors at bay over the final minutes to win the opening round contest.

Sanchez's four goals give her 70 on the season and back-to-back 70-goal seasons. A year ago, Sanchez finished with 73, which were the fourth-most in team history. With her performance on Friday, Sanchez is now in sole possession of sixth place in the Matadors' all-time career scoring list with 171 goals.

Hovanesian finished with three assists in the match while Pollei had two and Yule had one. Sanchez and Fairchild collected five steals and Hovanesian had the team's only field block on the day.

The Matadors and Gauchos will face off for the second time in as many weeks. Last Saturday, CSUN defeated UCSB 9-8 at Matador Field to close the regular season.

CSUN - 2-3-1-1 = 7
UCD - 2-3-4-3 = 12

CSUN goal scorers: Sanchez 4 (70), Fairchild (47), Fuller (11), Garcia (6)
UC Davis goal scorers: Virgil 4, Kohlmoos 3, Hauss 2, Kutt 2, Preston

CSUN saves: Van Vugt 9 (167)
UC Davis saves: Dotterer 4