The CSUN women’s water polo team, ranked 15th in the nation, ran into some rough water at Matador Pool over the weekend, losing to Stanford 13-4 and San Jose State 14-6.
Playing without one of their key players, Chelsea Curran, who was out with a concussion, the Matadors couldn’t match the offensive power of second-ranked Stanford or ninth-ranked San Jose State.
On Friday afternoon the Matadors hosted the Stanford Cardinal for an MPSF match up. Senior Dayna Van Gorder scored a hat trick in the game and Allison Brookes scored one goal for the Matadors.
Van Gorder, who had to sit out for most of the second period due to foul trouble, said she was happy about scoring three goals against the No. 2 team in the country.
“Especially the one in the top high corner – I never shoot those,” Van Gorder said.
For Stanford, Lauren Silver scored four goals to lead the Cardinal. Kelly Eaton, Heather West and Jacquelyn Gauthier each scored two goals and Megan May, Kelsey Holshouser and Kira Hillman chipped in one goal each.
“They’re a very good team,” said head coach Molly Barnes. “We knew what to expect and we tried to prepare for it.”
Stanford got on the scoreboard first with goals by Easton at 4:30 and West at 3:47. Van Gorder scored her first goal of the game at 3:17 to bring the score to 2-1. Stanford extended its lead to 3-1 at 2:16 with a goal from Silver.
In the second period, Eaton again started the scoring with a goal at 6:06. Stanford surged ahead with Silver scoring at 5:14, Holshouser at 3:38 and Silver, for her second goal of the period, at 2:42. Those three unanswered goals gave Stanford a 7-1 lead at halftime.
The Matadors started the second half with a goal by Brookes at 6:52. The Cardinal again went on a scoring spree, with goals by Gauthier at 6:34, Hillman at 4:27, Silver at 3:32 and May at 2:30 for an 11-2 lead.
In the fourth Gauthier scored at 7:41 and Van Gorder broke through for a CSUN goal at 7:25. West scored again for Stanford at 5:49 and Van Gorder scored the final goal of the game at 1:09.
Matador goalkeeper Jillian Stapf had 11 saves in the game and Amber Oland saved eight for Stanford.
Barnes said that Stanford was very effective in their “run and gun” approach, in which they quickly counter attack and shoot. Not having Curran in the game was also a disadvantage, Barnes said.
“I’m not too disappointed in the outcome, although it could have been a little more respectable,” Barnes said, explaining that they had hoped to hold Stanford to 10 or 11 goals.
The Matadors had less than 24 hours to recover from the loss and get ready for the ninth-ranked San Jose Spartans on Saturday.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough time for the Matadors, who were again unable to stop their opponent’s scoring power.
San Jose State got a career-high game from junior Juliet Moss, who scored seven goals to set a Spartan school record. Also scoring for San Jose State were Bridget McKee with four goals and Beth Harberts with three goals.
Junior Jessica Coy led the Matadors’ scoring with three goals, followed by Kirra Kylander, Tara McGinley and Brookes with one goal each.
“In the beginning I thought we were fine,” Coy said. “I thought we could hang.”
But, the team’s inability to score in 6 on 5 situations was “a backbreaker,” Coy said.
During the game against the Spartans, CSUN had 10 power play situations and only scored on one. In contrast, the Spartans scored on five of their seven power plays.
In the first period, Kylander scored first for CSUN at 5:55. The Spartans tied the score at 5:14 with a goal by Moss. Coy scored her first goal of the game at 2:11 to put the Matadors ahead 2-1 at the end of the first period.
The Spartans kicked it into gear in the second period, scoring four goals before the Matadors answered back. Harberts scored at 7:42, followed by a goal by Moss at 6:56. Harberts scored again at 5:50 and Moss, again, at 1:35. Brookes put one in the net at 1:02 for a 5-3 score at halftime.
Despite keeping it fairly close in the first half, the second half was a scoring clinic put on by the Spartans. Moss scored at 5:32, followed by two consecutive goals by McKee, at 4:44 and 2:27. Coy scored her second goal of the game at 2:05, but Harberts answered right back at 1:39 and McKee scored with just 24 seconds left in the period. Coy launched a shot as the clock hit :00 and scored her third goal of the game and 30th of the season.
Moss scored three unanswered goals within one minute during the fourth period, at 5:40, 5:13 and 4:22. McGinley scored for the Matadors at 4:12 and McKee scored the last goal of the game at 2:14.
Stapf made eight saves in the game, as did Spartan’s goalkeeper Kendra Adama.
The Matadors will head to Tempe, Ariz. on Saturday to play seventh-ranked Arizona State. On Sunday they will return to Matador Pool for a game against sixth-ranked San Diego State at noon.
