May 14, 2006

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis women's water polo team took fifth place at the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship on Sunday afternoon with a 12-10 overtime victory against Hartwick. Three Aggies tallied hat tricks in front of a home crowd at Schaal Aquatics Center. The tournament concludes with the championship game between USC and UCLA at 5 p.m. Sunday evening.

With the win, the Aggies conclude their season with a 22-12 record marking their ninth consecutive winning season and their eighth with 20 or more wins. Hartwick concludes its season with a record of 28-11.

In a first quarter filled with several turnovers and failed shot attempts, Cassie Schaefer was the lone scorer of the period with a skip shot that slid under the Hawk goalkeeper's arm to give the Aggies an early 1-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter, Mary Lowe added the second goal for UC Davis on a power play opportunity. The Hawks responded with back-to-back goals provided by Kim Sumich and Ellen Sevigny to tie the game for the first time at 2-2. With just 17 seconds left in the first half, Keri James scored on a six-on-five power play to grab the lead for Hartwick at 3-2.

Christi Raycraft opened up the scoring in the second half with a goal scored on a four-meter penalty shot. In the next possession, Casie Mota drew a Hawk exclusion passed the ball to Katherine O'Rourke who flipped it back to Mota for another Aggie goal. Jessi Lafayette followed with a lob shot to give UC Davis a 5-3 advantage. Mota followed less than a minute later with a bar-down shot assisted by Lowe.

In the following Hartwick possession, Teresa Fleming scored on a skip shot from top to bring the Hawks within two points. Sevigny followed with her second goal of the game to bring the score to 6-5 heading into the final quarter of regulation play.

Hartwick's leading scorer Bronwen Knox finally broke through the Aggie defense early in the fourth quarter with a game-tying goal from center. A couple of minutes later, O'Rourke once again regained the lead for UC Davis. Raycraft scored the last Aggie goal of the quarter before Fleming and Knox each added one to tie the game at 8-8 and send the teams into overtime.

Less than 30 seconds into the first three-minute overtime period, Mota drove in and scored her third goal of the game. Sevigny and Knox each responded to give the Hawks the lead once again.

The Aggies came out on fire in the second overtime period as Schaefer scored back-to-back goals to tie the game and then regain the lead. In the final seconds of the match-up, Sofia Patronas found herself ahead on a fast-break counterattack, Patronas passed the ball off to a wide open Raycraft who skipped the ball for her third goal of the game. The Aggies ended the game with a 12-10 victory and took the fifth place finish in the tournament.

"Hartwick is such an amazing high-scoring, quick-scoring team that just when you think you're in good shape, they're right back in it or ahead. I give them so much credit. They're such good scorers. I am impressed with the mental toughness of our team to kind of stay with it," said head coach Jamey Wright.

"I think it's just an incredible experience and experience is what helps you improve and get better in the future. I think it's also given confidence in ourselves in that we can be here and we deserve to be here," added Raycraft.

Schaefer led the Aggies for goals scored in the tournament with eight total. Goalie Amber Korner posted a total of 21 saves between the weekend's three games.

Junior Katherine O'Rourke, who earned Western Water Polo Association most valuable player honors two weeks ago, recieved second team All-Tournament honors at the conclusion of this weekend's championship.

UC Davis 12, Hartwick 10

               1     2    3    4   OT1  OT2    FinalUC Davis       1     1    4    2    1    3       12Hartwick       0     3    2    3    2    0       10

UC Davis Goals: Christi Raycraft 3, Cassie Schaefer 3, Casie Mota 3, Katherine O'Rourke 1, Mary Lowe 1, Jessi Lafayette 1.
Hartwick Goals: Bronwen Knox 3, Teresa Fleming 2, Ellen Sevigny 3, Keri James 1, Kim Sumich 1.

UC Davis Goalie Saves: Amber Korner 9.
Hartwick Goalie Saves: Olivia Colebourne 3.