
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Wins Twice at Convergence Tournament
3/1/2024 8:40:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
POMONA, Calif.---No. 23 CSUN earned two hard-fought wins at the Convergence Tournament hosted by Pomona-Pitzer and Chapman on Friday. The Matadors won a showdown with fellow No. 23 ranked Marist 12-11 in a match contested at Pomona-Pitzer. CSUN then traveled to Chapman and held off the Panthers in a thrilling 17-15 overtime victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. MARIST
In a tightly contested match, CSUN struck first with a goal from Dorottya Telek before Marist evened the match at the 2:16 mark of the first period. In the second, CSUN held a pair of slim 2-1 and 3-2 leads via goals from Anna Pal and Valeria Martinez, but Marist countered with goals from Paige Naegle and Kaylee Brard. Martinez evened the score once more at 4-4 with under two minutes left in the first half, however, Brard hit the net to give the Red Foxes the lead at intermission.
CSUN's offense came alive in the third quarter with the Matadors netting five goals. Nicole Thomas evened the game on a power play before Telek gave the Matadors the lead for the first time in the second half. The teams traded goals until Helena Sandhagen struck the netting and Telek capped off a three-goal period to put CSUN ahead 9-7 through 24 minutes. Telek drew a penalty shot at the six-minute mark of the fourth period, which she would convert, and Pal added another to extend the lead further to 11-7. Marist scored the next two to pull to within 11-9, but Pal hit a timely goal with 1:34 remaining. Despite yielding a pair of late tallies in the final seconds, CSUN held on for the 12-11 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. CHAPMAN
CSUN made the drive to Chapman University to face the Panthers later on Friday and quickly went ahead 3-0 at the start. However, the Panthers quickly answered with three-straight goals of their own. The final three minutes of the first period saw a barrage of goals with CSUN picking up three including two from Sandhagen. Chapman though found a late goal from Meg Peters to cut the CSUN lead to 6-5 after one quarter. In the second period, each side hit the netting twice with CSUN picking up goals from Kianna Melvin and Tatum Scarry on power plays.
CSUN took an 8-7 lead to the third quarter, but Chapman would put together a big five-goal quarter. After a Chapman 3-0 run, Shelby Hovanesian tied the match at 11-11 with 1:34 left in the third. Peters though capped off the scoring spree to put the home team on top 12-11 heading to the fourth. Behind goals from Melvin and Hovanesian, CSUN regained the lead with less than three minutes left in regulation. The Matadors held the Panthers without a goal for nearly the entire fourth quarter, but Alyssa Fricker tied the game with one second remaining to send the match to overtime.
In the extra session, Sandhagen hit the net first and Martinez followed with a goal of her own to send CSUN ahead, 14-12. Hovanesian eventually gave the Matadors a 15-12 lead in the second overtime before Pal hit the backbreaker with 1:43 remaining.Â
NOTES OF THE GAME
"Always a good battle with our east coast rival Marist. Great defensive showing in the second half with us controlling the pace on both ends. We continue to show improvement shooting and attacking while at the same time staying level headed.
"That was was not our finest hour [against Chapman]. Fatigue both mentally and physically officially set in after an emotional win this morning. In the end, having to go to overtime and getting this win was a good sign, but our unforced errors and turnovers were what allowed Chapman to hang around. With a Big West opener tomorrow on the road, we'll rest up and prepare quickly to battle again."
UP NEXT
CSUN sets its sights on its Big West opener at UC San Diego on Saturday at noon on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED VS. MARIST
In a tightly contested match, CSUN struck first with a goal from Dorottya Telek before Marist evened the match at the 2:16 mark of the first period. In the second, CSUN held a pair of slim 2-1 and 3-2 leads via goals from Anna Pal and Valeria Martinez, but Marist countered with goals from Paige Naegle and Kaylee Brard. Martinez evened the score once more at 4-4 with under two minutes left in the first half, however, Brard hit the net to give the Red Foxes the lead at intermission.
CSUN's offense came alive in the third quarter with the Matadors netting five goals. Nicole Thomas evened the game on a power play before Telek gave the Matadors the lead for the first time in the second half. The teams traded goals until Helena Sandhagen struck the netting and Telek capped off a three-goal period to put CSUN ahead 9-7 through 24 minutes. Telek drew a penalty shot at the six-minute mark of the fourth period, which she would convert, and Pal added another to extend the lead further to 11-7. Marist scored the next two to pull to within 11-9, but Pal hit a timely goal with 1:34 remaining. Despite yielding a pair of late tallies in the final seconds, CSUN held on for the 12-11 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. CHAPMAN
CSUN made the drive to Chapman University to face the Panthers later on Friday and quickly went ahead 3-0 at the start. However, the Panthers quickly answered with three-straight goals of their own. The final three minutes of the first period saw a barrage of goals with CSUN picking up three including two from Sandhagen. Chapman though found a late goal from Meg Peters to cut the CSUN lead to 6-5 after one quarter. In the second period, each side hit the netting twice with CSUN picking up goals from Kianna Melvin and Tatum Scarry on power plays.
CSUN took an 8-7 lead to the third quarter, but Chapman would put together a big five-goal quarter. After a Chapman 3-0 run, Shelby Hovanesian tied the match at 11-11 with 1:34 left in the third. Peters though capped off the scoring spree to put the home team on top 12-11 heading to the fourth. Behind goals from Melvin and Hovanesian, CSUN regained the lead with less than three minutes left in regulation. The Matadors held the Panthers without a goal for nearly the entire fourth quarter, but Alyssa Fricker tied the game with one second remaining to send the match to overtime.
In the extra session, Sandhagen hit the net first and Martinez followed with a goal of her own to send CSUN ahead, 14-12. Hovanesian eventually gave the Matadors a 15-12 lead in the second overtime before Pal hit the backbreaker with 1:43 remaining.Â
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 14-4 on the season with wins in five-straight matches.
- Telek scored five goals in the opening match to push her season tally to 62.Â
- Melvin, Sandhagen and Hovanesian each had four goals in the overtime win over Chapman.
- In net, Meghan Lopez had two wins as she finished with nine saves versus Marist and 12 more against Chapman.
"Always a good battle with our east coast rival Marist. Great defensive showing in the second half with us controlling the pace on both ends. We continue to show improvement shooting and attacking while at the same time staying level headed.
"That was was not our finest hour [against Chapman]. Fatigue both mentally and physically officially set in after an emotional win this morning. In the end, having to go to overtime and getting this win was a good sign, but our unforced errors and turnovers were what allowed Chapman to hang around. With a Big West opener tomorrow on the road, we'll rest up and prepare quickly to battle again."
UP NEXT
CSUN sets its sights on its Big West opener at UC San Diego on Saturday at noon on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
MC
CSUN
Shots
30
33
Goals
11
12
Assists
1
9
Points
12
21
Exclusions
9
10
Steals
1
5
Sprints
2
2
1
Dorottya Telek
6:10
Shinae Carrington
2:16
2
Anna Pal
5:34
Ella Baumgarten
5:14
Valeria Martinez
3:58
Paige Naegle
3:40
Kaylee Brard
2:39
Valeria Martinez
1:56
Kaylee Brard
1:42
3
Nicole Thomas
7:17
Dorottya Telek
6:21
Victoria Padilla
4:10
Dorottya Telek
2:05
Kendell De Beer
1:34
Helena Sandhagen
1:19
Dorottya Telek
0:34
4
Dorottya Telek
5:56
Anna Pal
5:02
Victoria Padilla
3:55
Shinae Carrington
2:25
Anna Pal
1:34
Rachel Dean
0:18
Kaylee Brard
0:00
Game Leaders
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National Student-Athlete Day 2019 - McKenzie Beardsley
Friday, April 05
CSUN Water Polo Report
Friday, February 10
Meet the Matadors - 2017 Women's Water Polo
Wednesday, January 18