SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The No. 16 UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team finished strong on day two of the Triton Invitational, claiming a 9th-place finish with wins over CSUN, 17-9, and No. 20 Loyola Marymount, 12-11.
UCSB vs. CSUN
Goalscorers: Snyder (4), Munson (3), Lyter (2), Owens (2), Mras (2), Amaral (1), Clemons (1), Flynn (1), Kuester (1)
The Gauchos (9-4) bounced back from Saturday's defeats with a 17-9 win over the Matadors on Sunday morning. Caitlyn Snyder led the way with four goals and Nina Munson was right behind her with three.
The Matadors (3-3) held a slim advantage in the early-going, holding leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the opening five minutes. The Gauchos ended the opening period with unanswered goals from Imani Clemons, Cami Mras and Sarah Owens to take a two-goal lead. Aidan Flynn put in the first goal of the second to make it a 5-2 game.
Santa Barbara continued to create separation the rest of the way, taking its largest lead of the game of eight goals on the final goal from Juju Amaral.
UCSB vs. LMU
Goalscorers: Munson (3), Clemons (3), Lyter (2), Snyder (2), Owens (1), Oliver (1)
Facing No. 20 Loyola Marymount (4-4) in the 9th-place game, the Gauchos found themselves in their closest game of the weekend. There were five ties but only one lead change, coming in the final minute of the first quarter when Snyder scored to make it a 3-2 UCSB lead.
The Lions outscored the Gauchos 4-1 in the third quarter to tie it at 8-8 heading into the fourth. Munson scored UCSB's first two goals of the final frame, giving the Gauchos a 10-9 lead with 4:01 to go.
The defense forced a turnover on the following possession, leading to a goal from Snyder at the 3:42 mark to make it 11-9. Leigh Lyter capped the clutch 3-0 run less than a minute later to give the Gauchos a three-goal advantage, leaving LMU with too little time to pull off a late comeback.
Next Up
Following their fifth win in seven tries, UCSB will have a weekend off before returning to action at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational from Feb. 25-27.
