No. 19 CSUN Finishes Strong at Aztec Invite

Sunday, March 11

San Diego, CA

10:00 a.m.

California State University at Northridge

#20 Harvard

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

No. 19 CSUN Finishes Strong at Aztec Invite

3/11/2018 10:49:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

SAN DIEGO, Calif.---No. 19 CSUN concluded the Aztec Invitational with a pair of victories on Sunday. The Matadors captured their fourth Top 25 win this season with a 10-8 triumph over No. 20 Harvard. CSUN also defeated Bucknell for the second-straight week, 13-3.

Sanchez posted seven combined goals, bringing her season total to 35 and her career total to 210. The Matador attacker now needs 13 goals to break the Matadors' all-time career scoring mark of 222 goals.

"The group continues to battle against the best competition," said head coach Matt Warshaw. "Harvard's veteran squad gave us a battle but our team defense proved to be the difference. Our freshmen and sophomores came up big this weekend. Missing a senior center [Amy Yule] and a junior defender [Lindsey Garcia] for the weekend gave some younger players a chance to get involved and they made the most of it.

"Seems like we keep checking off the goals we set in October one by one. I'm proud of this group thus far," added Warshaw.

Harvard Recap

The Matadors got off to a quick start against Harvard, scoring four times in the opening period. Shannon Hovanesian scored three times in the opening period while Emma Franck also hit the back of the net. CSUN led 4-1 after one period, scoring each of its goals on even-strength possessions. Haley Bowe scored twice on power plays in the second quarter but Hovanesian notched her fourth goal of the half to give CSUN a 5-2 lead at the break.

CSUN extended its lead to 7-2 on goals from Katelyn Fairchild and Sanchez in the third period. Madasonne Butler also struck the netting twice in a 1:08 span. The Crimson ended the period in strong fashion, scoring on goals from Bowe and Sofia Carrera-Justiz.

Harvard scored twice more in the early minutes of the fourth period to pull within 9-8. The Matadors though remained in front down the stretch. Butler hit a key insurance goal with 2:25 left to play to push the lead to 10-8, and the Matadors held on for the victory.

Niki Van Vugt collected 11 saves to go with two steals in the contest. Fairchild picked up five assists and four steals while Franck had three steals and two assists.

CSUN - 4-1-4-1 = 10
Harvard - 1-2-3-2 = 8

CSUN goal scorers: Hovanesian 4 (24), Butler 3 (13), Fairchild (31), Sanchez (29), Franck (4)
Harvard goal scorers: Strutner 2, Bowe 2, Carrera-Justiz, Pursell, Hong

CSUN saves: Van Vugt 11 (125)
Harvard saves: N/A

Bucknell Recap:

The Matadors posted a dominating 13-3 victory over Bucknell in the afternoon contest. Sanchez recorded six goals, finishing just a goal shy of the tying her career-high mark for a single match.

Also with multi-scoring performances, Butler added to her total on the day with three more tallies while Fairchild scored twice. Daci Hughes and Yuri Cowie registered their fourth goals of the season respectively.

Van Vugt finished with 10 more saves in the match, bringing her season total to 136. Katia-Andon Mateos had four steals while Hovanesian dished out three assists along with a field block.

CSUN – 5-4-0-4 = 13
Bucknell – 0-2-1-0 = 3

CSUN goal scorers: Sanchez 6 (35), Butler 3 (16), Fairchild 2 (33), Cowie (4), Hughes (4)
Bucknell goal scorers: Benson, Considine, Rojahn

CSUN saves: Van Vugt 10 (135)
Bucknell saves: N/A

CSUN will take next week off before returning to action on Friday, March 23 for its home opener against Cal State East Bay.