Matadors Drop Big West Tournament Quarterfinal to UC Irvine

Friday, April 27

Irvine, CA

2:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

#9 UC Irvine

Photo by: Samuel Ware

Matadors Drop Big West Tournament Quarterfinal to UC Irvine

4/27/2018 6:54:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

IRVINE, Calif.---No. 19 CSUN Water Polo suffered a 14-1 defeat to No. 9 UC Irvine in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament on Friday afternoon. Senior Niki Van Vugt collected six saves in over 21 minutes of action while senior Katelyn Fairchild scored the Matadors' only goal of the day in the second half. The senior tandem of Madeleine Sanchez and Shannon Hovanesian each picked up three steals. The Matadors will wrap up their season tomorrow morning against No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara at 11 a.m. in a fifth-place match.

The teams battled in a defensive struggle in the first period. After a series of turnovers and missed chances, Keana Eldridge scored at the 5:04 mark to give UCI the early lead. Van Vugt made a pair of saves in the first period but the Anteaters opened up a 2-0 lead on a skip shot from Julie Swieca. CSUN earned two power plays in the first eight minutes, however Jennalyn Bathels had her shot blocked and Hovanesian hit the post.

The Matadors continued to be unlucky early in the second quarter as both Sara Dempsey and Madasonne Butler each hit the post as well. UCI took advantage of the Matadors' missed opportunities with a goal from Natalie Seidemann that stretched the lead to three. Over a 2:16 span, the Anteaters broke open the game with three goals, two of which on even strength possessions. Sweica netted her second goal of the day while Tara Prentice got into the act at the 3:35 mark. The Anteaters completed their scoring barrage with a late goal just before halftime to lead 6-0.

CSUN finally lit up the scoreboard in the third period. Trailing 7-0 with three minutes to play, Hovanesian found Fairchild who floated a shot inside the far post. The goal was Fairchild's 45th of the season while Hovanesian registered her team best 38th helper. However, the Anteaters would pile on down the stretch of the period, scoring twice more to open up a 9-1 lead.

UCI added five more goals in the fourth period including two on power plays en route to the quarterfinal victory. With the win, the Anteaters will take on No. 2 seed UC Davis in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament on Saturday.

The seven-member Matador senior class consisting of Sanchez, Fairchild, Hovanesian, Van Vugt, Paula Abellan Garcia, Amy Yule and Carly Wickman will conclude their collegiate careers tomorrow morning against the Gauchos. A live stream of the match will be available on Big West.TV.

CSUN - 0-0-1-0 = 1
UCI - 2-4-3-5 = 14

CSUN goal scorers: Fairchild (45)
UCI goal scorers: Swieca 2, Borkovec 2, Toledo 2, Falcon 2, Eldridge, Seidemann, Prentice, Rack, Shackelford, Ayala

CSUN saves: Van Vugt 6 (198), Brewster 2 (32)
UCI saves: Phreaner 5, Jones 4