The UCSB women’s water polo team (2-0) kicked off its season this weekend with a pair wins over Cal State Bakersfield (1-1) and Pomona Pitzer (0-2) at the Gaucho Mini Tournament. In the first game of the day, the Gauchos defeated Cal State Bakersfield, 5-3, at UCSB’s Recreation Center. In the evening game, UCSB overpowered Pomona-Pitzer by a score of 12-6 at Campus Pool.
UCSB jumped ahead early against CSU Bakersfield with a strike by Christie Clark just 42 seconds into the game. A penalty goal by Elle Quane with 4:52 left in the first put the Gauchos ahead, 2-0. However, just 1:10 later, the Roadrunners answered with a goal by Alyson Moss. With 1:22 left in the first, Christie Clark notched her second goal with a shot from well beyond the five-meter mark, giving UCSB a 3-1 lead going into the second.
Claire Buchanan added another goal in the third, extending the Gaucho’s lead to 4-1 at half. In the third, UCSB and CSUB traded goals with a shot by Katie Kepner, which bounced off of the top iron and into the cage, and a goal by Kerinn Fields for Cal State Bakersfield.
In the final period, UCSB gave up another goal to Moss, but remained in control throughout their possessions and played strong defense, finishing the game with a 5-3 victory.
Against Pomona-Pitzer, UCSB set the tone early yet again. The first score came from Alexa Fuller just 24 seconds into the game. Pomona-Pitzer answered back with a goal from Tamara Perea with 3:50 left in the first, evening the score at 1-1. From that point on, UCSB dominated the contest.
With 1:30 left in the first freshman Nancy Ruano tossed up a shot that fell short and was knocked away by the goalie. Undiscouraged, Ruano followed her own shot and hammered it home, recording the first goal in her Gaucho career.
Sixteen seconds into the second, Kristin Kulakowski added a goal with a no-look turnaround strike. Kepner and Claire Buchanan each picked up a goal in the period and Ruano notched her second goal of the game, making the score 7-2 at the midpoint.
The Gauchos continued to pull ahead in the second half. In the third period UCSB stretched it’s lead to 10-3, thanks to Selina Rivera’s first career UCSB goal, a goal by Clark, and the first of two by Kacey Creek. Pomona-Pitzer continued to fight, with two more second half goals coming from Tamara Perea. However, it was not enough to match the Gaucho offense, who’s final goal came from freshman Rachel Nelson 57 seconds before the final buzzer sounded.
Head coach Wolf Wigo said, “Both games were excellent. We accomplished exactly what we wanted to do. We played strong, maintained control and were able to get our whole roster in.”
UCSB’s next challenge will come on January 28th when they go on the road to play Santa Clara.
UCSB 5, Cal State Bakersfield 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| CSUB | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
| UCSB | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
CSUB Goals: Alyson Moss 2, Kerinn Fields 1
CSUB Saves: Megan Wetherbee 6, Megan Pezzolla 3
UCSB Goals: Christie Clark 2, Katie Kepner 1, Claire Buchanan 1, Elle Quane 1
UCSB Saves: Ruth Milne 9
UCSB 12, Pomona-Pitzer 6
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| PP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||
| UCSB | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
PP Goals: Tamara Perea 4, Perri Hopkins 1, Karen Bonner 1
PP Saves: Goalie not indicated 1
UCSB Goals: Claire Buchanan 2, Kacey Creek 2, Nancy Ruano 2, Christie Clark 1, Katie Kepner 1, Kristin Kulakowski 1, Lizzie Rouleau 1, Selina Rivera 1, Rachel Nelson 1
UCSB Saves: Chelsea Carrillo 6, Sarah Zuziak 6
