No. 20 CSUN Falls in OT to Hartwick, Cruises Past Redlands

Saturday, March 24

Northridge, CA

11:00 a.m.

California State University at Northridge

#12 Hartwick

Photo by: Samuel Ware

No. 20 CSUN Falls in OT to Hartwick, Cruises Past Redlands

3/24/2018 1:04:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---No. 20 CSUN Water Polo (15-12) split its two matches on Saturday at Matador Pool. The Matadors fell to No. 12 Hartwick in a sudden victory overtime 12-11 but bounced back with an emphatic 16-3 victory over Redlands. Senior Madeleine Sanchez and Amy Yule each racked up four goals on the day, and senior Niki Van Vugt posted eight saves against Hartwick. Sanchez moved up to second place on the Matadors' career scoring list with 218 goals, and she now needs five more goals to break the school's goal record.

"We had a great battle today with Hartwick, we saw a couple different defenses today from them and had to make adjustments mid-game," said head coach Matt Warshaw. "Losing two of our biggest threats mid-way through the second half was a tough obstacle, and we will definitely learn from that. Our bench really showed the depth this team has playing critical minutes in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"Against Redlands, it was great to see a few Matadors make their CSUN debut," added Warshaw. "I thought our goalies, Brewster and Pfister, played great. They both collected important saves and led the defense."

Hartwick Recap:

The Matadors and Hawks battled in a thrilling, overtime contest that featured five ties. Fairchild opened up the scoring early on in the first quarter but the Hawks would answer with goals from Zsofia Polak and L.J. Edwards. With just 22 seconds left on the clock, Fairchild evened the match at 2-2.

CSUN scored four times in the second quarter and led by as many as three goals in the eight-minute session. Emma Franck and Sanchez each hit the back of the net while Madasonne Butler collected a pair of tallies. Polak recorded two-straight goals to trim the CSUN lead to 5-4 but Butler found the net with 12 seconds on the clock to give CSUN a 6-4 edge at intermission.

The Hawks pulled to within 7-6 on a goal from Lena Kotanchyan but Paula Abellan Garcia scored twice in a row to put CSUN on top by three at the 1:03 mark. Lauren Brennan netted the final tally of the period in the final minute. Fairchild was called for her third exclusion with seven seconds left in the third period, and Sanchez was whistled for her final exclusion in the opening minute of the fourth, leaving CSUN without its top two scorers.

Hartwick took the lead with three-straight goals in the fourth period, capped off by a score from Tori Wilson. CSUN fought back to even the match as Lindsey Garcia scored on a power play at the 3:28 mark. Both teams would have looks at the net down the stretch including the Hawks who earned a power play but the score remained tied heading into overtime.

The teams went scoreless in the first overtime period, however the Hawks would strike in the second overtime. Kotanchyan hit the netting on a power play wih just 1:13 on the clock. The Matadors made their way up the pool and answered back 16 seconds later as Shannon Hovanesian tied the match once more. Van Vugt stopped a last second shot from Polak to send the match into a sudden victory period.

CSUN earned a power play in the opening minute of the final stanza but could not get a shot up. The Matadors were whistled for an exclusion with 1:04 left to play, giving the Hawks an opportunity to take advantage. Just a second later, Polak scored her sixth goal of the match to lift the Hawks to victory.

Hartwick - 2-2-3-3-0-1-1 = 12
CSUN - 2-4-3-1-0-1-0 = 11

Hartwick goal scorers: Polak 6, Kotanchyan 3, Wilson, Brennan, Edwards
CSUN goal scorers: Fairchild 2 (39), Butler 2 (20), Abellan Garcia 2 (19), Sanchez (40), Hovanesian (25), Yule (10), Garcia (10), Franck (5)

Hartwick saves: Aleksandrovic 11
CSUN saves: Van Vugt 8 (149)

Redlands Recap:

The Matadors led wire-to-wire in a double-digit victory over the Bulldogs. The Matadors earned a five-meter penalty shot in the first 15 seconds of the match. Sanchez hit the penalty shot, and she later added another goal to put CSUN on top 2-0 in the opening minute. Carly Wickman also scored in the first period along with Yule, Sara Dempsey and Abellan Garcia to put the Matadors ahead 6-0.

CSUN added to its lead in the second period after Yule hit the net twice. The Matadors' defense held strong in the period, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for the entire eight minutes. Daci Hughes scored twice in the third period while Sanchez, Dempsey and Ashlee Sellung also checked in with goals of their own. The Matadors scored all five of their goals in the third period on even-strength possessions. Michelle Na finally put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard late in the third period but CSUN still had a comfortable 13-1 lead.

Elyse Koe collected two goals in the fourth period and Yuri Cowie added another as the Matadors outscored Bulldogs 3-2 over the eight minutes. Koe capped off the scoring with a strike in the final minute.

Nathalie Brewster racked up nine saves while Emma Pfister finished with four. Both Katia Andon-Mateos and Wickman picked up three assists apiece in the win.

Redlands: 0-0-1-2 = 3
CSUN: 6-2-5-3 = 16

Redlands goal scorers: Jenkins, Key, Na
CSUN goal scorers: Sanchez 3 (43), Yule 3 (13), Dempsey 2 (8), Koe 2 (8), Hughes 2 (7), Abellan Garcia (20), Cowie (5), Sellung (4), Wickman

Redlands saves: Grosswendt 2
CSUN saves: Brewster 9 (30), Pfister 4 (76)

The Matadors return to the road next Saturday against Long Beach State at noon in a Big West match-up.