April 26, 2009
STOCKTON, Calif. - The No. 3 seed UC Irvine women's water polo team (23-9) defeated No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara 13-9 Sunday afternoon in the inaugural Big West Championship.
The Anteaters got out to a 3-1 lead after the first period of play with two goals from junior Erin Kiene (Fresno/Clovis West HS) and a goal from sophomore Caitlin Haskell (Fresno/Buchanan HS). The two teams went back and forth throughout the second period each scoring three times for a 6-4 Anteater lead at halftime. Junior Kat Plummer (Thousand Oaks HS) put UCI up 7-4 26 seconds into the third period. A pair of goals by senior Sarah Frost (Santa Barbara HS) gave the ‘Eaters a 10-6 lead with 2:26 left in the third period. The Anteaters traded goals with the Gauchos in the fourth period to hold on for the 13-9 victory.
Freshman keeper Morgan Vickers (Newport Harbor HS) had five saves in the net for UCI.
Senior Gianna Rossi (Fresno/Central HS) was named the Big West Conference Championship Most Valuable Player after recording game-winning goals in UCI’s first two matches of the tournament and adding one more goal in the championship match.
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UC Santa Barbara
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1
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3
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3
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2
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-
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9
|
|
UC Irvine
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3
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3
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5
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2
|
-
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13
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|
Scoring
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UCSB: Claire Buchanan 2, Amanda Tipton 1, Cailee Kilroy 1, Jillian Waldron 1, Gillian Morgan 1, Alisha Khan 1, Lizzie Rouleau 1, Ellie Quane 1
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UCI: Cortney Collyer 3, Kat Plummer 3, Erin Kiene 2, Sarah Frost 2, Caitlin Haskell 1, Gianna Rossi 1, Julia Fancher 1
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Saves
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UCD: Chelsea Carrillo 5
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UCI: Morgan Vickers 5
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