California Baptist University
Azusa Pacific
Can't Touch This
4/5/2014 4:39:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
RIVERSIDE, Calif.— California Baptist University continued its winning streak with a 13-4 victory over their Golden Coast Conference rivals, Azusa Pacific.
The Lancers' hot hand have them on an eight-game winning streak, which has ballooned their record to 18-9 on the season and 2-2 in the GCC, while the Cougars fall to 14-17, 1-3.
CBU knew they had to start the scoring early and, with a penalty on the Cougars, it wasn't hard for Laura Kocsis to give CBU the 1-0 lead with her five-meter goal early in the first quarter. Kocsis followed that up with another one passed the goalie less than a minute later.
Hannah Evans grabbed her first goal of the game shortly after Kocsis; and then again with just 40 seconds left in the first quarter to bring the Lancers to a steady 4-0 lead before heading into the second period.
“That was one of the best first quarters we've put together so far,” Coach Jonathan Miller said. “They did what they needed to do to set the tone early.”
After winning the sprint to start off the second quarter, Kocsis turned around and fired a deep ball from the left side to the back of the cage on the first possession of the quarter. The Cougars responded with their first goal of the game but Molly Gritchen found herself open for a goal midway through the second period to give CBU a 6-1 lead before the first half eventually came to a close.
Much like Kocsis in the start of the second quarter, freshman, Paizlee Dreyer came in to the third quarter and won the sprint for the Lancers just before turning around and firing a shot in from deep outside. Raine Paul then put one past the Cougars goalie, followed by a goal from Evans to give herself a hat trick and the Lancers a 9-1 lead midway through the quarter.
“To come out in the third quarter and put three straight goals away was really nice for us,” added Miller.
The Cougars managed a goal off of a goalie ejection, but Kocsis countered with her fourth goal of the game late in the quarter. Dreyer again found herself open for a long shot, and added her second goal but the Cougars countered it with their third goal of the game. The quarter wouldn't end until freshman Jessica Castellano found herself open for a goal from deep outside with 46 seconds left in the third, bringing the Lancers to a 12-3 lead.
The final quarter remained in the hands of both defenses for just under six minutes before Briana Tryon lobbed the ball from deep center to the left corner of the cage with two minutes left in the game. Just before the final buzzer rang, the Cougars drew a penalty off the Lancers' and slipped a five-meter goal past Lina Medeiros in the cage for CBU to bring the final score to 13-4.
“At this point it's single games and focusing on the conference games,” Miller added. “It's nice to have one game this weekend and just be able to focus on that and then prepare for the next two games against Fresno Pacific and San Bernardino next week.”
The Lancers look to continue their winning streak in their final home games of the season against conference opponent Fresno Pacific at 11 a.m. and non-conference opponent San Bernadino at 5 p.m. on Apr. 12.
