SAN DIEGO – The No. 13 UCSB women’s water polo split its two games on Saturday at the UCSD Triton Invite, which were held at Triton Pool. The Gauchos dominated Cal State Bakersfield, 11-3, before suffering a tough loss to No. 6 UC Irvine, 14-10.
The Gauchos (9-3) continued their winning streak, as Kacey Creek, Samantha Murphy and Jade Wentz Fitzgerald each scored, enabling the Gauchos to take an early lead of 3-1. The Gauchos never looked back, and ultimately cruised past CSU Bakersfield.
Against UC Irvine, UCSB started the game fired up, with Murphy getting the first goal of the game after only 30 seconds. From there, the Anteaters quickly responded with two goal. Senior Ruth Milne kept the Anteaters to a one-goal lead at the quarter, with UCI up 4-3.
The Anteaters took over the game in the second period, opening up a 9-3 lead at half.
Looking to make a furious comeback in the second half, UCSB was searching for a quick turnaround in the third period. With the only goal coming from senior Shelby Haroldson, the Gauchos were faced with an 11-4 deficit heading into the final period.
UCSB gained late momentum as they came out pushing in the fourth period. With the help of two goals apiece by Jessie Porter and Bryn Hudson, UCSB made the final parts of the game interesting. Despite the effort, the Gauchos fell to the Anteaters by the final score of 14-10.
With four goals apiece, Murphy, Bryn Hudson and Jessie Porter led the Gauchos’ offense in the first day of the Triton Invite.
