CSUN Defeats Iona, Bucknell to Finish 3-1 at Wolverine Invite

Sunday, March 4

Ann Arbor, MI

5:30 a.m.

California State University at Northridge

Iona

Photo by: Tony Mastres

CSUN Defeats Iona, Bucknell to Finish 3-1 at Wolverine Invite

3/4/2018 11:40:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---No. 19 CSUN Water Polo concluded its stay at the Wolverine Invitational with a pair of victories on Sunday morning in Ann Arbor. The Matadors defeated Iona 10-6 behind four goals from Madeleine Sanchez. CSUN would best Bucknell, 10-6, coming from behind in the fourth quarter as Jennalyn Barthels collected three goals to lead the way. Niki Van Vugt played the full time in net in both matches, tallying 19 saves on the day.

"3-1 at the Michigan tournament was our goal," said head coach Matt Warshaw. "Playing the East Coast teams like Iona and Bucknell can be challenging since we aren't as familiar with them, but our team did an excellent job of following a game plan and came out with wins in both games. Between the travel and the early game times, I'm proud of how we responded to some adversity this weekend. We keep passing the character tests this weekend."

With five goals on the day, Sanchez surpassed 200 goals in her career. Fourth all time in CSUN history in scoring, Sanchez has 202 goals in her career. Sanchez needs 20 more goals this season to tie all-time CSUN leader Allison Brookes (2005-08).

Iona Recap:

The first quarter proved to be a defensive struggle as the Matadors registered the only goal in the period. Lindsey Garcia hit the back of the net in the opening minute while the Matadors withstood a pair of power plays to lead 1-0 after eight minutes.

In the second period, Iona stormed into the lead after goals from Hannah Schultz and Laura Rockett but Sanchez quickly evened the match at 2-2 with 5:15 on the clock. After Schultz gave the Gaels a 3-2 lead just 19 seconds later, the Matadors answered with a pair of goals near the two-minute mark. Garcia would hit the game-tying goal followed by a Katelyn Fairchild strike with under a minute to play.

CSUN began to pull away in the third period behind two goals from Sanchez. Fairchild added to the lead with 2:13 left to play, and Paula Abellan Garcia and Sara Dempsey helped CSUN outscore the Gaels 5-1 in the period. CSUN led 9-4 after 24 minutes of action.

Sanchez netted her fourth goal of the morning and the Matadors' 10th strike at the 5:55 mark of the fourth period. Schultz would get up to four goals, scoring twice on power plays but it would not be enough to close the gap.

Along with her four goals, Sanchez registered three steals and an assist while Garcia tallied three assists of her own. With 11 saves, Van Vugt recorded her fourth double-digit save performance of the year.

CSUN - 1-3-5-1 = 10
Iona - 0-3-1-2 = 6

CSUN goal scorers: Sanchez 4 (26), Fairchild 2 (28), Garcia 2 (8), Abellan Garcia (16), Dempsey (6)
Iona goal scorers: Schultz 4, Van Reeken, Rockett

CSUN saves: Van Vugt 11 (94)
Iona saves: N/A

Bucknell Recap:

Early in the first quarter, the Matadors jumped out in front 2-0 on goals from Garcia and Amy Yule. Bucknell got on the scoreboard via a power play at the 4:02 mark, and the Bison would tie the match at 2-2 late in the period on a score from Emily Konishi.

The teams exchanged goals in the second period to go into intermission tied at 3-3. Barthels notched her first goal with a little over five minutes remaining but Colleen Barron squared the match 40 seconds later.

The seesaw battle continued in the third period where Shannon Hovanesian gave the Matadors a brief 4-3 lead before Nina Benson tied the match on a power play. Barron put the Bison in front at the 2:50 mark but Hovanesian found the net once again to square the match at 5-5 after three periods.

After Barron gave Bucknell a 6-5 lead in the opening minute of the fourth period, it would be all Matadors for the remainder of the match. Sanchez tied the match again at the 7:02 mark. Barthels then gave CSUN the lead less than a minute later followed by a score from Abellan Garcia on a power play. With over four minutes to play, Barthels completed the hat trick with her third goal, and Fairchild later recorded an insurance goal to stretch the lead to 10-6. The Matadors held Bucknell scoreless over the final seven minutes of the game to seal the win.

Van Vugt tallied eight more saves in the match, giving her 102 for the season. Sanchez had three steals with an assist while Fairchild posted three assists. Ashlee Sellung played strong defensively, racking up three field blocks.

CSUN - 2-1-2-5 = 10
Bucknell - 2-1-2-1 = 6

CSUN goal scorers: Barthels 3 (7), Hovanesian 2 (19), Fairchild (29), Sanchez (27), Abellan Garcia (17), Yule (9), Garcia (9)
Bucknell goal scorers: Barron 2, Benson 2, Konishi, Considine

CSUN saves: Van Vugt 8 (102)
Bucknell saves: N/A

Next week, the Matadors face a busy weekend including their Big West opener and three matches in San Diego. CSUN opens up conference play next Saturday at UC Irvine at noon before competing at the Aztec Invitational. The Matadors will also face UC San Diego to start the invite at 4:15 on Saturday.