LA JOLLA, Calif. – The sixth-ranked UC Irvine women's water polo team cruised to a 15-4 victory over Cal State East Bay in the opening round of the Triton Invitational, Saturday morning in La Jolla.
 
UCI improves to 4-1 on the season while CSUEB falls to 2-1
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Danielle Ayala led the 'Eaters with four goals while Mary Brooks had three and Tara Prentice finished with two
> Sarah Nichols, Toni Shackelford, Raegan Castillo, Jessica Lynch, Marissa Echelberger and Megan Falcon each had one goal
> Morgan Jones played the first half in goal while Alyssa Schulte finished in goal for the second half
> UCI only allowed the Pioneers to score one goal each quarter
> Maeve Flynn had two goals for CS East Bay
 
FIRST QUARTER
> It was a defensive start for both teams as CSUEB was first to score with 4:12 showing on the clock
> Ayala tied things up for the Anteaters scoring an extra-man goal with 15 seconds remaining
 
SECOND QUARTER
> The UCI offense came alive in the second frame, notching seven goals in eight minutes of work
> Falcon started a three-goal run for the 'Eaters that had them up, 4-1, with 5:23 left
> The Pioneers would score before Castillo tallied a goal for UCI to make it 5-2 (3:59)
> The Anteaters closed out the half with three more goals to take an 8-2 lead at halftime
 
THIRD QUARTER
> UCI continued to roll adding six goals
> Brooks scored three straight to open the frame while Shackelford and Ayala added one apiece to give the Anteaters a 13-2 lead (3:56)
> Ayala added another goal before the Pioneers scored to make it, 14-3
 
FOURTH QUARTER
> East Bay scored just 15 seconds into the final period
> Ayala notched her fourth goal of the day with 3:22 to play as the Anteaters went on to win, 15-4
 
NOTES
> Four goals in a single game is a career-high for Ayala
> Mary Brooks and Tara Prentice lead the Anteaters with 13 goals each this season

UP NEXT
>UCI will face UC Santa Barbara in its second game of the Triton Invite today at 5:20 p.m.
 

Teams	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
UC Irvine	1	7	6	1	15
CSUEB	1	1	1	1	4