IRVINE, Calif. – The No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team fell behind early to No. 4 seed Long Beach State, and despite a late rally, dropped the Big West Tournament First Round matchup 9-6 to the 49ers at the Anteaters Aquatics Complex on Friday afternoon.
Long Beach came out of the gates quick scoring the first six goals of the match, including five in the first period alone, to take a 6-0 lead midway into the second period.
The Gauchos responded with a run of their own, scoring four straight goals behind strong play from Kate Pipkin and Sarah Snyder.
Pipkin got the scoring started for UCSB with 5:47 remaining in the second and scored again on the next possession, capitalizing on a 6-on-5 opportunity from five-meters out. Snyder fired a five-meter goal of her own to the top right corner just before the end of the first half to cut the LBSU lead in half, 6-3.
The Gauchos carried their momentum over into the second half as Pipkin notched her hat-trick with a quick goal on an assist from Kate Coski to make it a 6-4 game early in the third period.
From there, however, the two teams traded goals down the stretch and UCSB was unable to overcome the early deficit.
Mollie Simmons and Sarah Kreiser also scored in the match to go along with Pipkin's team-high three scores and Snyder's goal.
Long Beach State was led by four goals apiece from Tori Morrissey and Alexandra Massier.
UCSB will play No. 6 seed CSUN in the fifth place game tomorrow, Apr. 28 at 11:00 a.m.
LBSU 9, UCSB 6
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Final
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LBSU
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5
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1
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1
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2
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9
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UC Santa Barbara
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0
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3
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1
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2
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6
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LBSU Goals: Massier 4, Morrissey 4, Harman
LBSU Saves: Patras 9
UCSB Goals: Pipkin 3, S. Snyder, Simmons, Kreiser
UCSB Saves: K. Snyder 2, Buck 2
