Cambridge, Mass. - The 12th-ranked UC San Diego Women's Water Polo team built a 5-1 lead early and held off a stubborn Pomona-Pitzer team the rest of the way for a 15-8 win in the consolation bracket of the NCAA Championships on Saturday afternoon at Harvard University's Blodgett Pool.
With the loss, Pomona-Pitzer drops to 18-18 on the year and will face Iona tomorrow in the seventh-place match at 12 noon. UC San Diego will face Princeton in the fifth-place match at 1:45.
Sophomore Alyssa Woodward (Riverside, Calif. - pictured) had three goals and three assists for Pomona-Pitzer, while sophomore Mahalia Prater-Fahey (San Diego, Calif.) had two goals. Sarah Lizotte had five goals for UC San Diego, all in the first half.
The Sagehens opened the NCAA Tournament with top-ranked UCLA on Friday and fell 27-1, but they were able to settle in after a quick three-goal spurt from the Tritons made the score 5-1 with 2:02 left in the first quarter. Freshman Katy Schaefer (Los Altos, Calif.) scored to make it 5-2, and Woodward skipped in a shot with one second left in the first quarter to pull Pomona-Pitzer within 6-3.
The Tritons scored the first two goals of the second quarter, but the Sagehens wouldn't let the pull away, as Woodward scored as a UC San Diego penalty expired to make it 8-4, and sophomore Sallie Walecka (Palo Alto, Calif.) scored from straightaway to cut the Triton lead to 9-5. Rachel Brooks scored a man-up goal with 21 seconds left in the half to give UC San Diego a 10-5 lead at the break.
The teams traded goals in the third quarter, with Woodward, sophomore Vicky Gyorffy (Sacramento, Calif.) and Prater-Fahey answering UC San Diego tallies to make it 13-8 after three full. Pomona-Pitzer had a few chances to draw closer, as Woodward hit the underside of the crossbar, and Triton goalie Courtney Miller had a couple key saves. UC San Diego then scored on a counter with 3:36 left on a goal from Julia Kirkland and added one more for a 15-8 final.
Senior goalie Sarah Tuggy (Los Angeles, Calif.) opened the game with a couple of point-blank saves, and finished the day with 12 for the Sagehens.
Pomona-Pitzer faced Iona last year in the seventh-place match and rallied back from three two-goal deficits to force overtime, before the Gaels prevailed 12-8.
