DAVIS, Calif. – UC Davis women's water polo celebrated seven seniors playing their final game at Schaal Aquatics Center, but Long Beach State edged the 13-12 overtime win in a fiercely contested battle on Saturday afternoon.
UC Davis (15-12, 3-3 Big West) enjoyed a fantastic first quarter and build a 6-4 lead at the half. The Beach managed to storm back, using a five-goal third quarter to level things up. The visitors opened the scoring in the first overtime period, and despite a late comeback from the Aggies, held on for the one-goal victory.
Ally Clague,
Alyssa Lengtat, and
Noëlle Wijnbelt shined on their senior day, each tallying multiple goals in the contest. Clague recorded her fourth hat trick of the year while drawing two exclusions and coming up with two steals on the defensive end.
Ashley Salem, Lengtat, Wijnbelt scored two goals apiece in their solid performances.
Sophia Noble was terrific between the posts, racking up 15 stops, which marks her second-best performance of the season.
How It Happened
The Aggies got the perfect start when Lengtat finished off a power-play opportunity inside the first minute. Long Beach State canceled out the early goal just over a minute later, but four consecutive goals from Clague (2), Wijnbelt, and Salem gave UC Davis a comfortable 5-1 advantage after one.
Two quick goals from The Beach brought the visitors within one, but Salem found the back of the cage would keep her team out in front.
Long Beach State started to find its rhythm in the third quarter, out-scoring the Aggies 5-3 to draw level.
The game would slow down considerably in the last eight minutes of regulation. Lengtat broke the deadlock by capitalizing on another power-play chance, but The Beach found the equalizer less than 30 seconds later, sending the game to overtime.
Long Beach State took the lead in the dying seconds of the first half of overtime. At the start of the second half of extra time, Wijnbelt scored her second goal to tie things up. LBSU scored just under the two-minute mark, however,
Madison Sparre's goal would set up for an exciting final minute of action. The two teams went back-and-forth in the last 60 seconds, but it was Aliki Patra's goal with five seconds remaining that proved to be the game-winner, lifting her team to the 13-12 win.
Up Next
The Aggies will conclude Big West action on April 22 when they head to Hawai'i to face the Rainbow Wahine. The contest is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. PT.
