No. 4 UCI Earns Two Wins at No. 17 SDSU

Saturday, February 20

San Diego, Calif.

1:00 PM

UC Irvine

San Diego State

Photo by: Robert Huskey

No. 4 UCI Earns Two Wins at No. 17 SDSU

February 20, 2021 | Women's Water Polo

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – No. 4 UC Irvine won both games in a doubleheader against No. 17 San Diego, Saturday afternoon at the Aztec Aquaplex. UCI defeated the Aztecs 14-6 in game one followed by a 9-6 victory in the second game.

UCI improves to 4-1 on the season. SDSU falls to 0-5 overall.

GAME ONE - UCI 14, SDSU 6
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Toni Shackelford finished with her first hat trick of the season, scoring a team-best three goals
> Sarah Nichols, Christina Reyes and Jensine Bugelli each had two goals
> Kili Skibby, Piper Smith, Kayleigh Schultz, Megan Falcon and Mica Schiavone finished with one goal apiece
> Morgan Jones played the entire game in goal and made five saves for a .455 save percentage
> Jessica Leckich led the Aztecs with two goals

QUARTER ONE
> UCI jumped out to a 3-0 lead with goals from Smith, Shackelford and Nichols
> SDSU would score two in a row to make it 3-2 at 3:02
> Bugelli fired in goal with just over a minute remaining (1:04) to make it 4-2

QUARTER TWO
> Shackelford scored back-to-back goals on man up plays at 7:17 and 6:13, respectively to give UCI a 6-2 advantage
> SDSU found the back of the net at 5:07 to make it, 6-3, before Bugelli and Schiavone each fired in a goal to give UCI an 8-3 advantage at the intermission

QUARTER THREE
> Falcon (7:42) and Nichols (7:36) scored two quick goals to open the third quarter, giving the Anteaters a 10-3 lead
> SDSU answered with a two-straight goal stretch to make it 11-5 (2:56)
> Schultz capped the offensive frame with a goal at 1:27 as UCI entered the fourth quarter with a 12-6 lead

QUARTER FOUR
> UCI held the Aztecs scoreless in the final quarter
> Reyes notched the final two Anteater goals at 1:57 and :01 as UCI earned the 14-6 victory in game one

GAME TWO – UCI 9, SDSU 6
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Sarah Nichols, Toni Shackelford and Kayleigh Schultz each finished with two goals
> Calysa Toledo, Piper Smith and Danielle each added one apiece
> Morgan Jones finished with six saves in goal for a .500 save percentage
> Karli Canale had a game-high five goals for SDSU

QUARTER ONE
> Nichols, Shackelford and Schultz each found the back of the net to give UCI a 3-0 lead with 2:28 remaining
> Canale put the Aztecs on the board with a goal at 1:54

QUARTER TWO
> Canale scored again for SDSU to make it, 3-2, at 7:09
> UCI responded with four-straight goals to take a 7-2 lead into the half
> Shackelford scored an extra-man goal at 6:52 followed by another powerplay conversion from Ayala at 5:32
> Toledo fired in her first goal of the day with 4:56 while Smith capped the scoring frenzy with another Anteater point at 1:51

QUARTER THREE
> Canale sparked the SDSU offense, scoring three-straight goals to put the Aztecs back in the game, 7-5, with :23 remaining in the quarter
> with one second left on the clock, Nichols was able to find the back of the net to make it 8-5 in favor of the 'Eaters

QUARTER FOUR
> SDSU struck first in the final frame to make it a two-goal, 8-6, game
> However, the 'Eaters held off the Aztecs the rest of the way while Schultz capped the scoring with a goal at 4:16 to give UCI the 9-6 win

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