NORTHRIDGE, Calif. —  The UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team embarks on its final road trip of the season this Friday, traveling to Northridge to take on No. 23 CSUN.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Gauchos played a pair of matches against No. 10 UC Irvine on Friday evening and No. 8 Long Beach State on Sunday in their third and fourth conference matches of the season.

Against the Anteaters, the Gauchos doubled their scoring from the last time the teams met, but ultimately fell short by a 19-7 margin. Captain Cami Mras led the scoring with two goals, while Emerson Ferriera, Brynn Tully, Hadley Hall, Isabel Valaika and Loretta Hovey each added a score of their own.

On Sunday, Zoe Gabriel and Zoe Ann Watson combined to score more than half of Santa Barbara's goals against the Beach, but it wasn't enough to pull the upset as the Gauchos fell 20-5. In the cage, the Blue and Gold's goalies had a strong defensive effort with Lydia Soderberg saving a first-half penalty shot and Keira Wall continuing her shot-stopping momentum by recording six huge second-half saves.

The last Gaucho-Matador meetup came on Santa Barbara's Senior Day last season, when the teams battled to a nail-biting overtime finish, with the Gauchos ultimately coming away with a 13-12 victory. Santa Barbara will look again to Valika, who provided a crucial overtime equalizer in that matchup to keep the Gauchos alive before the ultimate game-winner.

SCOUTING THE MATADORS
No. 23 CSUN enters the matchup on a five-game winning streak following a strong showing at the Convergence Tournament last weekend, where the Matadors went 4-0. CSUN opened the tournament with a 15-13 win over Iona before closing the day with a dominant 21-3 victory over host Occidental. Freshman Ella Furuholmen led the offense on Friday with seven goals, while goalkeeper Erika Staine made 15 combined saves.

Their momentum continued into Saturday, with sophomore Sofia Martinez finishing with a team-high six goals on the day while freshman Mira Dravucz added five. On Wednesday, Dravucz was named The Big West Player of the Week for her performance. Staine anchored the defense once again, playing seven of eight quarters in goal and recording another 15 saves.

WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Friday's matchup is set for 2:30 pm at the Matador Pool at CSUN.