UC Irvine
Long Beach State
UC Irvine Claims Big West Championship On Thornton's Golden Goal
April 30, 2017 | Women's Water Polo
DAVIS, Calif. – Senior Kelsey Thornton scored a sudden death goal to give UC Irvine the Big West Championship title with an 8-7 overtime victory over Long Beach State at the Schaal Aquatics Center.
It is the sixth Big West Tournament title for the Anteaters (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014) who will earn an automatic bid in to the NCAA Championship at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, IN May 12-14.
The selection show will be streamed on NCAAsports.com tomorrow (May 1) at 5:00 p.m. PT.
The Anteaters, who were the tournament's No. 1 seed and ranked sixth nationally, improve to 23-6 overall and extend their winning streak to 14 straight. No. 3 seed Long Beach State ends the year 18-12 overall.
Junior Mary Brooks was named the Tournament MVP as she notched four goals against the Forty-Niners and 10 goals for the tournament. Her 10 goals set a new Big West tournament record as did her six goals against UC Davis in the semifinals.
Thornton added two goals, an assist and two steals, while seniors Cambria Shockley and McKenna Mitchell also scored a goal for the Anteaters. Shockley was instrumental in the UCI defense with four steals.
Senior goalkeeper Annika Nelson recorded a career-high 15 saves for the second consecutive game. The 15 goals ranks second most in a Big West Tournament game.
Long Beach State began the scoring as Annabelle Harman skipped a ball in at 5:20 of the first period. Following a Forty-Niner exclusion, the Anteaters worked quickly as Cara Borkovec found Cambria Shockley for a goal on the right side at 3:43 to knot the score at 1-1.
The second period was all UCI as the defensive battle was broken when Kelsey Thornton would score at 2:08 then assisted on a goal by Mary Brooks with 34 seconds left. Brooks took the pass from Thornton and went cross cage and buried the ball in the left corner to give UCI the 3-1 lead at the half.
Long Beach State would score three unanswered goals in the third period to go up 4-3 before Brooks stole a pass from the Long Beach goalkeeper trying to outlet to a player returning from exclusion and scored at 1:35 to tie it at 4 all.
McKenna Mitchell lost the defender at center and scored for UCI at 7:37 then Long Beach State used goals by Marilia Mimidi (6:31) and Virginia Smith (5:48) to take a 6-5 advantage. Brooks dumped the ball down low to Mitchell who immediately kicked it back out to Brooks who fired it in to the cage at 1:16 to knot the score at 6-6 to end regulation.
In the first overtime, Brooks beat the Forty-Niners in transition and lobbed the ball in at 2:01 before LBSU's Tori Morrissey returned the favor with a goal at 1:08, 7-7.
UCI had the best chance in the second overtime period as Brooks drew a five-meter penalty shot, but the Anteaters could not convert and neither team could break the 7-7 tie before sudden death.
The teams traded possessions without a score until a Thornton shot hit the post and as the Long Beach goalkeeper passed the ball out to the right side it was contested by UCI and Long Beach State was called for a ball under, giving the ball back to the Anteaters. Brooks fired a shot that was tipped over the cage giving UCI a corner. Brooks fed Thornton with three seconds on the clock where she lobbed it in as time expired to give UCI the victory.
Scoring by Period
LBSU 1-0-3-2-1-0-0-0-7
UC Irvine 1-2-1-2-1-0-0-1-8
Scoring
LBSU: Smith 3, Harman 2, Mimidi 1, Morrissey 1.
UCI: Brooks 4, Thornton 2, Shockley 1, Mitchell 1.
Goalie Saves
Nelson (UCI) 15, Patras (LBSU) 15.
