In a triple-header, Saturday CSUN’s water polo team went 3-0 at the Cal Baptist Invitational in non-league play.
“They were games to boost our confidence,” said Whitney Delgado, who had 12 goals in the series. “They weren’t Division I schools so we knew going into the games we should have been 3-0, which we did.”
For the Matadors, this was a series for the new players to see what they have and build their confidence, which freshmen Lindsy Nelson said did work out.
“It was good to see what we can do and jell with the older girls,” Nelson said. “We played really well.”
CSUN vs. Azusa Pacific
The Matadors jumped to an early lead 6-2 lead in the first quarter and didn’t look back. They would add 11 more goals on route to a 17-6 win over the Cougars.
Starting for Northridge was Nicole Concialdi, who had 10 saves.
The Matadors were able to play strong defense and only allowed Azusa two goals in two quarters and one each in the other two.
CSUN vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Northridge second game of the day, was against the Athenas, beating them 12-5.
CSUN tallied six goals in the first quarter while allowing only one. The Matadors shut down the Athenas by giving up two goals each in the last two quarters.
In net for the Matadors was Dana Harvey, who made four saves.
CSUN vs. Concordia College
CSUN came out in the first quarter scoring and had a commanding 6-1 lead, but the Eagles came back to give the Matadors a tough time.
CSUN prevailed in a 16-10 win in its last game of the day.
“We were winning by a lot in the first quarter, but they made adjustments,” said Nelson, who had five goals for the day. “They were a more aggressive team physically.”
Seven different Matadors had goals in the game. Concialdi collected 10 saves in her second game of the day.
Defensively, CSUN did what it set out to do and that was to stop the opponents from scoring. The Matadors were able to hold the other teams to a total of 21 goals while scoring 45.
“We became a defense focus team, with pressing and not fouling during practice and brought that into the game,” Delgado said. “We definitely stepped up and so did the goalies.”
