UCSB (18-12, 3-2) was defeated by top-seeded Pacific (23-10, 4-1), 7-5, on Sunday in the third place match of the 2010 Big West Women’s Water Polo Tournament on Sunday. Despite entering the conference tournament on Friday as the third seed, UCSB ends the season as fourth in the Big West after going 1-2 in Long Beach over the weekend.
The third place match-up started out as a barn burner, with four goals being scored in the first 3:10 of play. UCSB started the action, going up 1-0 on a Shelby Haroldson goal. Pacific answered back, notching two straight goals to take a 2-1 lead. Undaunted, UCSB’s Kathryn Nelson returned the favor and evened the score at 2-2 to end the first quarter.
In the second UCSB struck first again, regaining the lead by way of a Claire Buchanan power play goal. Later in the quarter Pacific found the back of the net on their own power play, sending the game to half in a 3-3 tie.
In the third quarter, the Gaucho offense stalled and UCSB failed to score. Pacific was able to put away two goals and take the lead for the first time since 2:55 into the opening quarter.
Early in the final period the Tigers padded their lead, posting another goal to make the score 6-3. The Gauchos finally responded, scoring two goals in the next 1:07 to cut the Pacific lead to one. Unfortunately for UCSB, the Tigers notched yet another goal just 1:42 later and were able to keep the Gauchos out of the net for the remainder of the game.
With the defeat, the Gauchos end the conference tournament and the 2010 season as fourth in the Big West.
Pacific 7, UCSB 5
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| Pacific | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||
| UCSB | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
UCSB Goals: Kathryn Nelson 2, Shelby Haroldson, Claire Buchanan, Christie Clark
UCSB Saves: Ruth Milne 9
Pacific Goals: Bethany Quertermous 3, Jasmine Myles 2, Bridget Geck, Dara Tawarahara
Pacific Saves: Brooke Millar 9
