CORONA DEL MAR, Calif. – The No. 18 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team (10-7) split day two of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational against No. 17 Indiana (11-3) and Biola (1-9). Against the Hoosiers, the Gauchos erased a five-goal deficit to force overtime, but ultimately fell 11-10. Later, against the Eagles, the Gauchos ran away with an early lead to a 19-12 victory. Imani Clemons scored a career-high four goals and Annie Kuester swiped five steals in the Indiana match, while Isabel Valaika also had four goals versus Biola.

FROM INTERIM HEAD COACH EMMA MYALL
"We had another tough game against Indiana," Myall said. "We were doing everything right, just another unfortunate loss. Our girls kept their heads up and the second game was good, we definitely had a team win."

GAUCHOS 10, No. 17 INDIANA 11
A rematch of the 10-9 Hoosiers win a month ago, Indiana scored a few minutes in on a 6-on-5 opportunity. The Gauchos did the same on their last possession of the first quarter before the Hoosiers countered with a goal in the waning seconds to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Midway through the second, a Santa Barbara penalty was saved. The Hoosiers took advantage by netting a goal on their ensuing possession and would score again a few minutes later. A penalty in favor of Indiana was awarded right before halftime, and they found the back of the cage to take a 5-1 lead.
 
After being blanked in second frame, the Gauchos had a goal-scoring barrage in the third. After conceding another goal—now trailing 6-1—Imani Clemons scored two goals in less than a minute to dig into the Hoosiers lead. The Gauchos then withstood a 6-on-5 before Jojo Scheer and Christina Mullane slotted home less than a minute apart. Suddenly, the five-goal deficit shrunk to just one. Indiana steadied themselves with a goal a minute from the horn, but this time it was the Gauchos' turn to score in the final seconds. Going into the final period, Santa Barbara was back in it, down 7-6.
 
Continuing the momentum, the Gauchos earned a penalty at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Mullane's five-meter shot tied the score, and it was a brand-new game with seven minutes left of regulation. By the midway point, though, Indiana had reestablished a two-goal advantage. However, the ever-resilient Gauchos fought back again—Bella Mady scored before Clemons tallied her fourth goal with just over 30 seconds remaining. The teams headed to overtime deadlocked at 9-9.
 
Both teams went scoreless through the first three minutes of overtime as the Gauchos held off two 6-on-5s. Yet, Indiana would not waste a third power play, scoring on the first possession of the second overtime period to take the lead. They would find the net again with just 40 seconds left for the Gauchos to answer. Mady did just that, scoring only five seconds later, but the Gauchos could not get a second goal to tie it again. Indiana bled out the clock to the 11-10 final.
 
GAUCHOS 19, BIOLA 12
Looking to avenge the earlier overtime defeat, the Gauchos came out swinging against Biola, scoring five goals in the first quarter. After the Eagles opened the scoring, Annie Kuester, Isabel Valaika, and Clemons all found the cage within 90 seconds of each other. Biola scored a second 6-on-5 goal, but Aidan Flynn drew a penalty on the ensuing possession that Mullane scored. That whole sequence happened in a busy opening four minutes. Goalie Ava Donleavy assisted Valaika with another goal a bit later, and the Gauchos had a 5-2 lead after one.
 
Valaika scored her third goal of the match, already, on a power play early in the second frame before the Eagles countered with a power play goal of their own. Out of a timeout, the Gauchos drew up a 6-on-5 play, allowing Molly Souza to score. With about three minutes left, Souza was involved in another goal, drawing a penalty to allow Kuester to score. The Gauchos took an 8-3 lead into halftime.
 
Out of the break, goals from Mady, Clemons, and Valaika (her fourth) increased the lead all in the first three minutes. Biola scored two penalties and a 6-on-5 goal in the frame before Morgan Hoffman got in on the scoring shortly after. Santa Barbara felt comfortable taking a 12-6 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Early in the fourth, Hoffman and Souza scored their second goals of the game. Zoe Gabriel, Loretta Hovey, Athena Wigo, Hadde Hall, and Aidan Flynn joined the party soon after, each of them hitting the net. Although the game was already all but won by the Gauchos, the final frame was had an eventful 13 goals—7-6 in Santa Barbara's favor. Ultimately, the final score was 19-12 Gauchos.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will play tomorrow against the winner of today's 4 p.m. game between Cal State Fullerton and Pomona-Pitzer. Staying at Corona del Mar High School's Marian Bergeson Aquatics Center, the match is for 13th place at the stacked Barbara Kalbus Invitational. Scheduled for 10:20 a.m., fans can follow along via live stats at ucsbgauchos.com/WWPLiveStats.