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University of California, Santa Barbara

Women's Water Polo Team at The Big West Championship
6
UC Santa Barbara UCSB (15-13)
8
Winner Long Beach State LBSU (20-8)
UC Santa Barbara UCSB
(15-13)
6
Final
8
Long Beach State LBSU
(20-8)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UC Santa Barbara UCSB 2 2 1 1 6
Long Beach State LBSU 3 1 2 2 8

Game Recap: Women's Water Polo |

Women’s Water Polo Falls in Big West Quarterfinal

DAVIS, Calif. — The No. 16 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team ended up on the wrong side of a good old-fashioned playoff battle Friday evening, as a couple missed opportunities cost the sixth-seeded Gauchos in an 8-6 defeat to the third-seeded No. 8 Long Beach State in The Big West Championship quarterfinal. Leigh Lyter and Annie Kuester both scored twice in the game to lead the Gauchos. Mary Beth Heffelfinger also scored in her final game in Blue and Gold.  
 
FROM HEAD COACH SERELA KAY
"I'm proud of how hard the team fought today," Kay said. "We had our chances but just didn't execute in the end. There were many highs and lows to build off next year. We will miss the four seniors, no doubt."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half of Friday's contest was fantastically back-and-forth, with neither team able to get more than one goal of separation on the scoreboard. After Long Beach opened the scoring early in the first quarter, Lyter fired home two goals in a minute to give the Gauchos their first lead of the day. The Beach answered with two to snatch a 3-2 advantage after the first quarter, but Santa Barbara came back with another pair to take a 4-3 lead in the second.
 
Kuester fired home with Santa Barbara up a player, then Cami Mras put home a five-meter penalty shot. The Gauchos drew a second penalty before halftime but saw it saved, then watched Long Beach tally an equalizer before halftime.
 
The higher-seeded Beach re-took the lead, 5-4 to start the third quarter, but Heffelfinger provided a game-tying goal for the Gauchos with three and a half minutes left in the third. However, the final 11 minutes and change would be the ones that proved decisive for Long Beach. The Beach put together a 3-0 run that spanned the rest of the third and much of the fourth, including a five-meter penalty of their own. Worse for the Gauchos, they drew a third penalty of the match but ended up with a second penalty miss. Kuester did score with a minute left to make it 8-6, but the Gauchos could not muster what would have been a miraculous rally.
 
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