California Baptist University
CSUN
The Long Haul
2/1/2014 8:06:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
RIVERSIDE--- California Baptist University head coach Jonathan Miller coached his Lancers to take down No. 15-ranked Cal State Northridge 11-10 Saturday morning--his first-ever victory over a ranked opponent--to open the Lancer Invite Mini. The Lancer women continued their winning streak with a 13-8 win over the Athenas of Claremont Mudd-Scripps.
CBU improves to 4-4 on the season with the pair of wins. The Matadors now stand 4-2 with their split, after rebounding with a win over Pomona-Pitzer. CMS drops to 0-4 after dropping a game to Cal State Bakersfield in the morning.
The victory over CSUN wasn't an easy feat for the Lancers, as they battled through six periods before Alyssa Birch scored the game-winning goal with 1:02 left on the clock to end the game in the golden-goal overtime period.
Hannah Evans put in the first CBU goal shortly after the Matadors found their first scoring drive to tie the game at 1-1 in the first, but the Lancers wouldn't find another opportunity until the second quarter. Meanwhile, CSUN put away three more in the first to take a steady 3-1 lead.
Evans again responded directly after a goal by the Matadors for the second goal, firing up the Lancers to score two more in the second. Molly Gritchen and Evans, earning a hat trick, each netted goals and helped the Lancers hold their opponent to a single goal before heading into the half, trailing 4-3.
Gritchen found another opportunity in the third quarter, but the Matadors didn't make it easy on the Lancers, adding three more goals to end the quarter with the Lancers behind 8-5.
CBU wasn't about to give up, however, showing it in the fourth quarter when the Lancers rallied back after capitalizing on four scoring opportunities.
Christina Young and Samantha Banks each had a goal in the fourth quarter, followed by Laura Kocsis, who took advantage of a six-on-five opportunity and slipped one past the Matadors' goalie. Shortly after, Kocsis fired in her second goal of the game from 12 meters out to tie the game in the fourth and force extra time.
“To outscore them 4-1 in the fourth quarter was huge for us,” Miller said. “Our girls played big in the fourth and put us in a position to win. They fight until the end in every game, and that is the mark of a great team.”
Meghan Rowland also added four crucial saves in the fourth to her 11 total saves, keeping CBU very much in the contest.
With 18 seconds left in the second overtime, and her squad trailing 10-9, Kocsis shot the game-tying goal to send the game into triple overtime where Birch would eventually bring the Lancers to a victory over the No. 15 Matadors.
In the nightcap, CBU started out strong with three goals in the first and held CMS to just one scoring drive. Morgan Barrows found the back of the cage late in the second quarter to start the drive, and Evans and Kocsis added two more goals with less than two minutes left in the half.
The Lancers dominated the third quarter over the Athenas, as they scored four more goals and conceded zero goals to the visitors.
Birch and Paizlee Dreyer started off the fourth quarter with a goal each, bringing the Lancers to a 13-3 lead, which would eventually be the final score.
Lina Medeiros contributed eight saves in the cage for CBU, helping her team to another victory on the day.
The Athenas managed score five more goals but not enough to pull ahead of the Lancers who ended the game with a final score of 13-8.
“The girls really did a good job of executing in the third quarter and putting the game away for us,” Miller added.
CBU looks to keep up the winning streak back at home for the first full Lancer Invite of the season Feb. 14-15.
