California Baptist University
University of California Santa Barbara
Hitting Their Stride
1/24/2014 11:56:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--- After a challenging start to the season against three ranked foes, California Baptist University saw those early tests pay dividends Friday.
First, the Lancers battled 16th-ranked UC Santa Barbara in a narrow loss, 7-6, before rebounding with a dominant 14-4 win over Fresno Pacific University at the Santa Barbara Invite Friday afternoon.
Christina Young and Laura Kocsis, with a pair of goals each, led the CBU women in a close match-up against the Gauchos in the morning.
Down 6-4 going into the fourth quarter, CBU won the final eight minutes by a score of 2-1. The Lancers pulled within a goal, 7-6, with 25 seconds left but could not force a turnover as UCSB drained the clock to survive the scare.
“We had a look at the end but just ran out of time,” head coach Jonathan Miller said. “I think we outplayed them and there were a few stretches in the game where we really could have taken the lead.”
Paizlee Dreyer and Molly Gritchen scored a goal each for the Lancers in the match-up as well. Meghan Rowland played an imperative role in the cage with nine saves and three steals for CBU, which improved to 1-3. The Gauchos went 1-1 in their first action of the season Friday.
The Lancers followed through with four out of five six-on-five attempts, while they allowed 13 six-on-five opportunities for their opponent— just five of which were successful.
“It was tough to play one player down the whole game," Miller said. "I thought in spite of everything, the girls played great."
CBU hit its stride in the late game with a dominating 6-0 lead in the first quarter and held on to a 10-1 lead at halftime.
“Everything kind of clicked," Miller said. "Our offense really fed off our defense, the girls were pressing hard and got a lot of steals that led to a lot of counters.”
Coming into the second half, CBU rotated players in and were able to find the back of the cage four more times before the final buzzer. Gritchen logged her first hat trick of the year in the game, while Kocsis and Young added two more goals to their resume.
Jessica Castellano scored twice, and Dreyer recorded another goal as well, while the rest of the scoring was balanced throughout CBU's roster.
In goal, Lina Medeiros contributed eight saves and one steal in her first game of the season.
The Lancers will continue to face some of the best competition in the nation Saturday when it faces No. 7 UC Irvine and Cal State Bakersfield to conclude the UCSB Invite. CBU then opens the season at home when it hosts the Lancer Mini Invite on Feb. 1.
