NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team began its final road stretch of the season with a visit to its closest Big West rivals, the No. 25 CSUN Matadors, on Friday afternoon. While the result went the home team's way, 12-6, there were a number of silver linings for this young Gauchos squad to hang onto and carry forward. Team captain Cami Mras continued her swan song senior season with another pair of goals to bring her team-leading total on the year up to 24 and maintain the best goals-per-game ratio of her career. Lainey Weintre was back in the pool after missing last weekend's pair of games, and she provided instant impact in the form of three assists. Promising rookies Eliza Harlow and Emmerson Ferriera continued their excellent freshman seasons as well with a goal each.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Santa Barbara hung with the Matadors through much of the first period, with Mras' first goal of the day answering CSUN's opener and Ferriera's score cancelling out a second CSUN goal. If not for some whistles late on the first quarter would have been a dead heat, but the Matadors scored on a five-meter penalty and a six-on-five powerplay in the final 62 seconds of the frame to lead, 4-2. Some staunch defense and another goal from the Gauchos' co-captain nearly erased that lead in the second quarter. The Santa Barbara defense, anchored by Keira Wall in goal, kept CSUN off the board for the entire second period of Friday's game, and Mras capitalized on a six-on-five chance in the final minute to bring the Gauchos within one at halftime.
 
Unfortunately, the Blue and Gold could not carry that momentum into the third quarter. CSUN started the second half with a 3-0 run before Hadley Hall's first of two powerplay goals on the afternoon put a stop to it and made the score 7-4. After the Matadors re-established their four-goal lead with three minutes and change left on the clock, another frantic final minute saw Harlow score with 46 seconds remaining, only for the hosts to get it back with 10 seconds to go.
 
The fourth quarter began with CSUN ahead by a score of 9-5, with Hall's second six-on-five goal the only score in the final frame for Santa Barbara.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos have just one road game left in their regular season, though it is the famously challenging trip across the Pacific to visit No. 6 Hawai'i on March 28. Santa Barbara and the Rainbow Wahine will hit the water at 9 p.m. Pacific Time from the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Center in Manoa two weekends from now. The Gauchos then return to the mainland for their regular season finale and Senior Day on April 4, hosting UC San Diego.