The CSUN women’s water polo team had a rough weekend at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational, losing three of four games in the tournament, which featured 16 teams, 11 of which were ranked in the top 20.
“Our offense sputtered throughout the weekend,” said head coach Molly Barnes. “We had a tough time adjusting to different defenses that were being thrown at us.”
The Matadors opened play on Saturday by beating No. 19 Santa Clara, 7-6. All-American Allison Brookes led the offensive attack with three goals and Dayna Van Gorder scored two. Sydney Sonoda and Jillian Stapf each scored one.
The win moved the Matadors into the winner’s bracket where they faced sixth-ranked San Diego State. CSUN put up a good fight and went into halftime with a 4-4 tie. San Diego went on a run in the third period, however, and handed the Matadors their first loss of the season 11-6.
Chelsea Curran was the top scorer for CSUN with three goals. Brookes, Van Gorder and Jessica Coy each scored one goal.
“We played a good first half against San Diego State and they stepped it up a little bit, and we rolled over some,” Barnes said. “They ended up going on a big scoring run and they won. They won the tournament.”
On Sunday the Matadors started the day with a loss to eighth-ranked UC Davis. CSUN took the early lead, but the score was tied 4-4 at halftime. The game remained tight until Davis put it away in the fourth period and won 9-7.
Brookes scored three goals in the loss, while Van Gorder and Kirra Kylander both scored two.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the way we played against Davis after our Saturday performance,” Barnes said. “I think Davis was probably our best game of the weekend, although we lost.”
In the final game of the tournament, CSUN played No. 15 UC San Diego for seventh place. The game was close throughout and the fourth quarter ended with a tie score. The tie held through one overtime period and the game went into sudden death overtime. With just 21 seconds remaining, UCSD scored, giving them the 8-7 win.
Barnes said that after the Matadors controlled most of the game, UCSD tied the game and then scored first in overtime. Barnes said the team needed to get a goal to stay in it.
“Chelsea Curran got us a goal with 11 seconds to go and forced sudden death overtime,” Barnes said.
UCSD launched a long shot with 21 seconds left and it deflected off Brookes and went into the goal, Barnes said.
“That was pretty demoralizing. We should have been able to put the game away in regulation. We just didn’t get it done.”
Barnes said that although UCSD was ranked higher than CSUN, the Matadors are a better team.
“Sometimes playing in San Diego is really hard and you have to overcome all of the home team advantages,” Barnes said.
The Matadors will open their home season on Saturday when they face defending national champions, top-ranked UCLA.
Barnes said the Matadors will have to play as hard as they can.
“They’re four or five goals better than anyone else and some of those anyone else teams are four or five goals better than us,” Barnes said.
Brookes, who became CSUN’s all-time leading scorer on Feb. 3, said that playing as hard as you can means “playing like you have nothing to lose.”
“It’s kind of exciting to get to play against them because they’re such good players,” Brookes said. “It’s really your chance to prove that you have nothing to lose.”
Saturday’s game is at Matador Pool and starts at noon.
