UC Irvine
UC San Diego
Thornton Paces No. 8 UC Irvine To 11-6 Win Over No. 9 UCSD
February 11, 2017 | Women's Water Polo
LA JOLLA, Calif. – Senior Kelsey Thornton led No. 8 UC Irvine with a career-high four goals in an 11-6 victory over No. 9 UC San Diego at the Triton Invitational Saturday afternoon.
Thornton started her scoring early, helping the Anteaters to a 3-1 lead in the first period with two goals. UCSD struck first in the second quarter before Corinna Toledo and Mackenzie Milham scored consecutive goals to take a 5-2 advantage in to the break.
The Tritons narrowed the margin to 5-4 on a pair of goals before McKenna Mitchell and Thornton stopped the momentum. After UCSD would score at 2:16, Gabby Pierandozzi fired a shot in the back of the next with 26 seconds remaining to extend the gap to 8-5. Mitchell scored quickly for UCI at 7:30 of the final quarter then following a Triton goal, Brooks (5:44) and Thornton (3:57) sealed the victory for the Anteaters.
Thornton hit four goals on seven attempts while adding three steals and two assists. The senior had six goals over two games Saturday, guiding the Anteaters to a 2-0 record.
UCI will take on No. 5 Arizona State at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow in the first game of the day.
BY PERIOD
UC Irvine 3-2-3-3-11
UC San Diego 1-1-3-1-6
SCORING
UCI: Thornton 4, Mitchell 2, Borkovec 1, Brooks 1, Milham 1, Pierandozzi 1, Toledo 1
UCSD: Weiseler 4, Boyer 2
