No. 19 CSUN Outlasts No 14 San Diego State in OT

Sunday, February 25

Irvine, CA

9:00 a.m.

California State University at Northridge

#14 San Diego State

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

No. 19 CSUN Outlasts No 14 San Diego State in OT

2/25/2018 11:59:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

IRVINE, Calif.---No. 19 CSUN Water Polo wrapped up the Barbara Kalbus Invitational with a dramatic 10-9 victory over No. 14 San Diego State in overtime on Sunday morning. With two seconds left in overtime, sophomore Jennalyn Barthels scored the winning goal to lift CSUN to its first win over the Aztecs since 2005 and the second in the history of the program. The senior trio of Paula Abellan Garcia, Katelyn Fairchild and Madeleine Sanchez tallied two goals apiece. Freshman Emma Pfister racked up nine saves in front of the cage.

"Overall we had a good showing at the most competitive tournament of the year," said head coach Matt Warshaw. "This was a good building block as we move into the second half of the season. At this time of the year no team is 100 percent healthy and we're no different. This overtime victory against SDSU was a true showing of our depth on the current roster."

The Matadors struck first in the opening quarter on a tally from Abellan Garcia. However, a minute later the Aztecs evened the match, and Hannah Carrillo gave her the team lead with seven seconds left in the period.

CSUN surged into the lead in the second period, outscoring the Aztecs 3-0. The Matadors took the lead on a pair of power plays as Fairchild and Sanchez hit the back of the net. Abellan Garcia added to the lead at the 2:29 mark to give the Matadors a 4-2 edge at intermission.

In a high-scoring third period, the Matadors led 5-3 after a goal from Shannon Hovanesian but the Aztecs fought back to tie the match with 3:10 on the clock. Fairchild put the Matadors back on top on a power play, and Sanchez stretched the lead to 7-5 near the one minute mark. San Diego State would make it a one-goal game with 43 seconds left on a goal from Delaney Parks.

Madasonne Butler gave CSUN an 8-6 lead in the fourth quarter, however the Aztecs rallied in the final minutes. After Carrillo found the net with under two minutes to play, Maddy Parenteau tied the match at the 1:21 mark. Both teams earned power plays late in the period but neither side broke through, sending the match into overtime.

In extra time, the Aztecs' Emily Bennett scored the only goal of the first three-minute session at the 1:12 mark. CSUN trailed until the the final minute of the second overtime where a costly foul was called on the Aztecs. As a result, Sara Dempsey took the five-meter penalty shot and connected with the game-tying goal. The Matadors were able to keep the Aztecs off the scoreboard on the next possession and received one last a chance at the net. Barthels would get a shot at the net and hit the go-ahead score with just two seconds left. The Aztecs got the ball back but were unable to even the match up, giving the Matadors their second overtime victory this season.

Sanchez finished with three assists and two steals while Hovanesian had three assists and four steals.

The Matadors head to the Ann Arbor, Mich. next Saturday to compete in the Wolverine Invitational. CSUN will face host Michigan and Azusa Pacific on day one of the invite, and wil take on Iona and Bucknell a day later.

CSUN - 1-3-3-1-0-2 = 10
SDSU - 2-0-4-2-1-0 = 9

CSUN goal scorers: Fairchild 2 (22), Sanchez 2 (20), Abellan Garcia 2 (14), Hovanesian (15), Butler (9), Dempsey (4), Barthels (4)
SDSU goal scorers: Carrillo 3, Bennett 2, Parenteau, Kraft, Parks, Vizcarra,

CSUN saves: Pfister 9 (62)
SDSU saves: Cantoni 7