April 9, 2006

DAVIS, Calif. - The No. 15 UC Davis women's water polo team fell to Western Water Polo Association rival Loyola Marymount 10-8 in the final game of the 2006 Davis Shootout Sunday evening at Schaal Aquatics Center. Following a 13-0 shutout against UC Santa Cruz earlier in the afternoon, the Aggies took an early lead against Loyola Marymount in their second game of the day, but the No. 4 Lions were able to pull off the victory with the help of a strong third quarter.

UC Davis' season record now stands at 16-11 and the Aggies are 10-3 in conference match-ups.

The Aggies opened the second day of the ten-team tournament against the Banana Slugs of Santa Cruz. UC Davis drew several exclusions early in the first quarter, but struggled to capitalize on the power play opportunities until Mary Lowe finally found the back of the cage with one minute and 17 seconds on the clock. Lowe's goal was followed by freshman Emily Kitchens' first goal of the season.

In the second quarter, the Aggie offense picked up as UC Davis found the back of the UC Santa Cruz cage seven times. Cassie Schaefer and Casie Mota each scored twice in the quarter. In the third quarter, Kitchens grabbed her second goal of the day while freshman Sarah Odegard also added one. Two more Aggie goals were collected in the fourth quarter as UC Davis came away with the 13-0 shutout.

After only a one-game break, the Aggies took to the pool again for their second match-up of the season with No. 4 nationally ranked Loyola Marymount. The last time the two teams met was in Los Angeles less than two weeks ago where the Lions captured a narrow 3-2 win.

In the first possession versus the Lions the Aggies drew an exclusion that allowed Jessica Soza to convert a power play goal and grab the early 1-0 lead. Just over a minute later, Casie Mota fired one into the Lion cage to further UC Davis' lead. Katherine O'Rourke soon followed with a six-on-five goal that gave the Aggies a 3-0 lead. LMU fired back shortly thereafter as Katie Hicks posted back-to-back goals to shorten the Aggie lead to a single point.

With just 40 seconds left to play in the first quarter, Katie O'Neill launched a shot from outside the seven-meter mark to score the Aggies' fourth goal as the buzzer sounded ending the UC Davis possession. At the end of the first quarter the Aggies had a 4-2 lead.

Hicks opened up the second quarter with her third goal of the game, but O'Rourke fired back with a shot from the post during an Aggie power play to regain the two-point lead. Several ejections were traded before Rosanna Romiuk was able to convert a six-on-five goal to bring the score to 5-4 heading into halftime.

Christine Robinson opened the third quarter with a goal for the Lions, tying the game for the first time. Aggie Ashely Greenwood responded by turning her defender in center and scoring the sixth Aggie goal. Sarah Hamilton scored to tie the game once again with three minutes and 17 seconds on the clock and a little over a minute later Cara Colton grabbed the lead for the Lions with a lob shot scored.

Greenwood scored her second goal of the game towards the end of the third, but her goal was sandwiched by a pair of goals from Robinson who earned a hat trick for the quarter. Leading into the fourth quarter the Aggies trailed 9-7.

Romiuk scored her second goal of the game within the first minute of the fourth quarter and the Lions proceeded to hold UC Davis scoreless for the next several minutes. With 44 seconds in the game O'Rourke posted her third of the goal game assisted by Christi Raycraft on a three-on-two counter attack. The Aggies finished the game with the 10-8 loss.

UC Davis will host their final home game of the season on Friday, April 21 at 4 p.m. at Schaal Aquatics Center against Pacific.

UC Davis 13, UC Santa Cruz 0

               1     2     3     4     FinalUC Davis       2     7     2     2       13UC Santa Cruz  0     0     0     0        0

UC Davis Goals: Casie Mota 2, Cassie Schaefer 2, Emily Kitchens 2, Sarah Odegard 1, Mary Lowe 1, Jessica Soza 1, Katie O'Neill 1, Megan Jimenez 1, Katherine O'Rourke 1, Christi Raycraft 1.

UC Davis Goalie Saves: Amber Korner 2, Diana Pivacek 8.
UC Santa Cruz Goalie Saves: Brit Hale 3, Jennifer Para 2.

Loyola Marymount 10, UC Davis 8

                   1     2     3     4   FinalLoyola Marymount   2     2     5     1    10UC Davis           4     1     2     1     8

Loyola Marymount Goals: Christine Robinson 3, Katie Hicks 3, Rosanna Romiuk 2, Cara Colton 1, Sarah Hamilton 1.
UC Davis Goals: Katherine O'Rourke 3, Ashley Greenwood 2, Casie Mota 1, Katie O'Neill 1, Jessica Soza 1.

Loyola Marymount Goalie Saves: Katie Murray 5.
UC Davis Goalie Saves: Amber Korner 3.