April 30, 2011
SANTA BARBARA< calif.=""> Freshman utility Danielle Warde scored five goals while sophomore Jessy Cardey added four to lead top-seeded and 10th-ranked UC Irvine to a 15-9 win over fifth-seeded and 18th-ranked UC Davis in the semifinal round of the Big West Conference women's water polo tournament at UC Santa Barbara's Campus Pool Saturday afternoon.
The Aggies slip to 19-12 for the year. The Anteaters, which went undefeated in their regular-season conference schedule, improves to 20-9 overall.
Sophomore Carmen Eggert led UC Davis with three goals, all in her team's five-goal second period. Juniors Alicia Began and Carey Faber chipped in two goals each, while Jessica Dunn and Michelle Hook rounded out the Aggie scoring with a goal apiece. Sophomore Riane Woods tallied six saves, including two against UCI 6-on-5 chances and one against a five-meter penalty shot.
The 'Eaters converted a pair of extra-man situations early in the second period to establish a 5-1 lead after 11 minutes of play, only to see their lead wither away to a single goal by the break. Eggert scored on two power plays to bring the tally to 6-4 in UCI's favor. Then after Cardey's natural goal bumped her team's advantage back to three, Eggert completed her hat trick at the 2:27 mark and Began finished a 6-on-5 chance to slice the deficit to 7-6 prior to the break.
UCI stretched its edge with a five-goal third quarter, getting two scores from Cortney Collyer. Anteater goalkeeper Lauren Davis also posted two saves against UC Davis 6-on-5 shots in the second half to help maintain her team's edge. UC Davis never closed the gap by less than four goals in the final 12 minutes of play.
The Aggies move to Sunday's third-place game, where they will face the loser of the Cal State Northridge-Long Beach State semifinal, held later on Saturday evening. The 49ers upset host UCSB in Friday's action to earn the matchup against the second-seeded Matadors.
This is the third year of the Big West Conference tournament and the first in which the league title merits an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championship.
BIG WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S WATER POLO TOURNAMENT
UC Santa Barbara Campus Pool
| #18 UC Davis (19-12) | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | - | 9 |
| #10 UC Irvine (20-9) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | - | 15 |
GOALS - UC Davis: Carmen Eggert 3, Alicia Began 2, Carey Faber 2, Michelle Hook 1, Jessica Dunn 1. UCI: Danielle Warde 5, Jessy Cardey 4, Olivia Cummins 2, Cortney Collyer 2, Hillary Estrada 1, Katie Croghan 1.
GOALIE SAVES - UC Davis: Riane Woods 6 (32:00). UCI: Lauren Davis 6 (32:00).
