IRVINE, Calif. — The No. 19 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team (13-11, 0-4 Big West) pushed No. 7 UC Irvine (13-9, 4-0 Big West) all the way on Friday, keeping within two goals of an Anteaters squad whose average margin of victory was 9.9 goals entering the day. Annie Kuester scored five times for the Gauchos, three in the second half, while Christina Mullane had three goals herself and Imani Clemons continued her great form in Big West games with two more scores. Ava Donleavy made eight saves on the day to help keep Santa Barbara close.
 
FROM INTERIM HEAD COACH EMMA MYALL
"We finally started scoring and I think everyone was in good spirits," Myall said. "Everyone was also getting crafty with their shots. It was fun to watch and be a part of."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Clemons was unstoppable early, scoring on each of the Gauchos' first two possessions, but UC Irvine answered each time to keep the game tied. The hosts took their first lead of the day after the four-minute mark in the first quarter, but Kuester answered on the next possession to re-tie the game at 3-3. Mullane then converted a 6-on-5 opportunity inside the last minute of the quarter to restore Santa Barbara's lead, 4-3. However, the Anteaters answered again thanks to a five-meter penalty with less than 30 seconds in the frame. The first quarter ended with the teams tied at four goals apiece.
 
The game stayed tied for only 65 seconds in the second quarter before Kuester put Santa Barbara back on top, 5-4, but the Anteaters went on the only three-goal run of the game by either team and held a 7-5 lead at halftime.
 
It was back to the back and forth after halftime though, with Aidan Flynn scoring on Santa Barbara's first possession of the third quarter to make it a one-goal game again. Irvine restored their two-goal lead shortly afterwards, but they only kept it for 30 seconds, as Kuester scored on a 6-on-5 powerplay to answer and Mullane repeated the trick a minute and a half later to tie the game at 8-8.
 
The teams kept trading goals, as Irvine re-took the lead 30 seconds after Mullane's game-tying goal, only for Mullane to re-tie the scores 20 seconds after that. Despite the Gauchos' efforts, they were unable to take a lead, and the Anteaters scored the last goal of the third quarter and the first of the fourth to take an 11-9 lead, though there were still over seven minutes to play at that point.
 
Kuester only needed nine seconds to get Santa Barbara back on level terms, scoring twice in quick succession. However, Irvine re-took the lead just six seconds after Kuester had tied the game and the Gauchos were not able to find another goal in the final six minutes of action. The Anteaters scored their 13^th and final goal with just under 90 seconds remaining.  
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara will be back in Orange County next weekend to play back-to-back games against Concordia Irvine and Cal State Fullerton, April 4 and 5. The Gauchos then return to Santa Barbara for their final home game of the season on April 12 against No. 23 CSUN.