The 17th ranked CSUN women’s water polo team saw its four-match winning streak come to an end Wednesday afternoon at the sixth-ranked Loyola Marymount Lions.
The Matadors were without junior Chari Christopher, the team’s leading scorer, and saw their record fall to 14-12. LMU stretched its winning streak to 13 and improved its overall record to 24-4.
The scoring began when LMU’s Rosanna Tomiuk scored her 24th goal of the season with 5:22 left in the first quarter. CSUN came back four minutes later when Lynzy Klein scored her 25th goal of the season to tie the score at one.
That was as close as the Matadors would get as LMU scored four consecutive goals over the next two quarters to build a 5-1 lead.
LMU’s Katie Hicks started the scoring in the second quarter, scoring her 37th and 38th goals of the season within 45 seconds of each other. Tomiuk followed with her second goal of the day and, 25th of the season, to extend the lead to three after the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Tomiuk scored her third and final goal of the day with 4:54 to play in the third quarter. CSUN freshman Michelle Keeley scored her 11th goal of the season a minute later to pull CSUN back within three.
The Lions Stacia Peterson followed Keeley’s goal and scored her team-leading 45th goal of the season 30 seconds later. Dora Szabolcsi rounded out the third quarter scoring 40 seconds later, making it 7-2.
In the fourth quarter, CSUN’s Allison Brookes scored her 33rd goal of the season, which was preceded by Hicks’ third goal of the day, two minutes earlier.
The schedule didn’t get any easier for CSUN as they were scheduled to travel to Long Beach to play in The Beach Tournament. Their first opponent, Long Beach State, entered the week ranked fifth in the nation with a 15-5 record.
Following Long Beach, the Matadors face fourth ranked Hawaii later in the day. Hawaii entered the week 12-6 and on an eight-game winning streak.
On the second day of the tournament, CSUN gets a bit of a reprieve when they play UC Santa Cruz (6-14) and 19th ranked UC San Diego (12-13). CSUN will come home to close out their season against Arizona State on April 23.
