The 19th-ranked Cal State Northridge water polo team competed at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational Feb. 11 and 12. Although the Matadors defeated No. 20 Santa Clara, CSUN dropped three matches during the two-day tournament, placing 10th place out of 16 teams.
Senior Erica Bonneti led the Matadors’ attack with three goals on the first day of competition. CSUN lost to fifth-ranked Loyola Marymount Lions 8-5, then were defeated by No. 12 UC Irvine in its last match of the day.
Against LMU, the Lions started the game off with the first four goals as Junior 2-Meter D Sarah Hamilton scored 2:50 into the first period. LMU’s freshman driver Nicole Hughes scored her first collegiate goal under a minute later for a 2-0 lead. Then sophomore 2-Meter Christine Robinson scored back-to-back goals, one with just 13 seconds remaining in the first period and followed with a goal 37 seconds into the second frame.
The Matadors managed to cut the lead to 4-1, but the Lions quickly answered back with a pair of goals from Robinson and another by senior utility Stacia Peterson. Giving LMU a 7-1 lead.
The Matadors trailed 8-3 going into the fourth period and managed to hold off the Lions in the fourth quarter while scoring two more goals.
For CSUN, Bonneti and sophomore 2-Meter D Allison Brookes scored two goals in the match, and junior driver Jennifer Mcdonnell tallied an additional goal.
Robinson led LMU with four goals in the game.
In CSUN’s second game of the invitational, junior driver Lynzy Klein scored first for the Matadors at the 3:48 mark of the first period. The Anteaters would tie the game 1-1 with 1:20 left in the first.
The Anteaters were able to score two more goals in the second period, making the score 3-1. In the third quarter, UCI scored again at the 4:35 mark to broaden their lead.
A goal by Bonetti with 13 seconds remaining in the period would mark the last Matador point for the day. UCI scored in the fourth quarter to defeat the Matadors 5-2.
In the last day of competition, Bonneti proved to be the savior yet again by scoring five goals in the Matadors’ 8-5 victory against the No. 20-ranked Santa Clara Broncos.
Bonetti scored the first goal of the game at the 5:03 mark to put CSUN up 1-0. Santa Clara would tie the game at one with 1:33 remaining in the period.
In the second quarter, Santa Clara scored at the 5:16 mark to take the lead 2-1. But Bonetti scored again with 3:30 remaining, and sophomore 2-Meter D Christine Cruz added a goal with 1:30 left before the half to give the Matadors a 3-2 advantage.
Klein scored a goal with 4:42 remaining in the third, and Bonetti tallied another goal for the Matadors at the 2:04 mark. CSUN fended off the Broncos attack in the third quarter to take a 5-2 lead. Both teams scored three goals in the final quarter of the match as CSUN won its first match of the season.
The final match of the invitational was against the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners, who the Matadors lost to when they played each other Feb. 3.
CSUB started the game by scoring at the 3:58 mark of the first quarter. CSUN countered when Brookes scored, tying the game at one with 1:39 remaining in the quarter.
Brookes scored her second goal of the game for CSUN at the 6:17 mark of the third quarter. Bonetti netted her only goal of the match with 4:35 remaining in the quarter to put Northridge up 3-1.
The Roadrunners scored two goals and resisted the Matadors’ attempt to come back in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.
Brookes scored her final goal in overtime at the 1:30 mark, but the Matadors were unable to hold off the Roadrunners. Bakersfield scored two goals in overtime to win the match 5-4.
Brookes scored three of the Matadors’ four goals in the match.
The Matadors return home Feb. 18, where they will face MPSF foe Long Beach State at noon.
Charles Keeranan can be reached at sports_sundial@csun.edu
