April 27, 2008

Game 20 Scoresheet in PDF Format

Los Angeles, CA -- Loyola Marymount and UC Davis entered the final of the 2008 Western Water Polo Association Women's Championship as the top defensive teams in the 12-team field, allowing a combined four goals per contest. They went for a combined 13 in the first half of their final as UC Davis held on in the final seconds to win a wild one in the WWPA title match, 10-9 over the Lions, on Saturday at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center.

LMU, who had allowed just three goals in each of their first tournament games, jumped out to a 4-2 lead at the break, but trailed 7-6 at the half as the teams scored six combined goals in the first quarter and seven in the second quarter.

The teams would play even in the final two quarters as UC Davis would hold on to the one-goal halftime lead at the end. The Aggies improve to 26-8 while LMU falls to 20-11.

LMU's Nicole Hughes and UCD's Christi Raycraft led all scorers with three each in the shootout. The 6-on-5 power play was a factor as ejections proved big in the contest. LMU finished the game 7-for-9 on the 6-on-5 while UC Davis went 5-for-9.

The Lions opened the game with two straight from Diana Romero and Alex Wike before UC Davis scored a pair of their own to tie the game at the 1:544 mark. The Lions then closed the quarter with a pair of 6-on-5 goals, one from Sheena Carter and the other from Diana Romero.

Both teams scored to open the second to make it 5-3 after Wike scored her second at the 4:56 mark. UC Davis then scored four unanswered, including the final goal of the run with 20 seconds left from Raycraft. LMU wasn't finished as Hughes scored a 6-on-5 goal with under a second left in the half to make it 7-6.

The Lions tied the score at 7-7 when Hughes scored another power play goal at the 5:48 mark. However, UC Davis scored the next two goals of the quarter to go up 9-7. They would never trail again.

LMU cut the lead to 9-8 on Mary Ann Campos' 6-on-5 goal with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. Laura Uribe would give UC Davis a key two-goal cushion at the 6:06 mark when she scored on the power play, making it 10-8.

The Lions looked to have scored with just under three minutes to play but the shot came just after the shot clock expired. The Lions then had another chance under two minutes as Campos had her shot bar out and spin on the goal line but did not go in.

LMU finally got the goal with 45 seconds left on Hughes' third. They would not get the ball back as the Lions were called for an exclusion with 18 seconds to play to make it final.

The first-team 2008 WWPA All-Tournament Team:
Kim Hockett (UCSD) - GK
Freyja Berg (CSUSB)
Judy Emaus (UCSD)
Nicole Hughes (LMU)
Amy Lamb (Santa Clara)
Chelsea Laning (CSUMB)
Jessica Soza (UCD)
Laura Uribe (UCD) Alex Wike (LMU)

The second-team 2008 WWPA All-Tournament Team:
Randahl Capurro (SCU) - GK
Sydney Gstettenbauer (UCSD)
Petra Koudelkova (CSUB)
Samantha Mullins (SSU)
Christi Raycraft (UCD)