TEMPE, Ariz. --- UC Irvine women's water polo brought the defense Saturday morning to defeat No. 10 Fresno State, 10-6, in their first match of the day at the ASU Cross Conference Challenge.
The seventh-ranked Anteaters (2-0) got off to a fast start thanks to Senior
Jessica Lynch scoring the team's first four goals to lead all players. She added a pair of assists for a six-point day, recorded the team's only steal, and won a sprint.
Along with her,
Faith Tedesco was stellar in net saving a career high 15 shots in the match, the most for an Anteater keeper since 2018. She propelled the Anteater defense that shutout the Bulldogs (1-1) in the second and fourth periods en route to the victory.
The supporting cast contributions included
Tara Prentice once again scoring with three in the match, three assists from
Toni Shackelford to lead all players, and scoring topped off by
Sarah Nichols,
Elena Flynn, and a first-career goal for freshman
Nioka Thomas.
Inside the Numbers
- Lynch's four goals are a career high; her previous high in a match was three that she recorded twice last season
- Prentice's hat trick marked her 32nd career game with three or more goals
- Tedesco's 15 saves are tied for a the sixth-most in a match all-time in program history
- Tedesco was successful in denying all three penalty shot attempts by Fresno State
- Toni Shackelford delivered her third career match with three or more assists
- UCI shutout Fresno State in the second and fourth periods; the 2021 'Eaters had 12 shutout periods and three matches with multiple shutout periods
First Half
- Jessica Lynch scored the game's first four goals at 7:35, 5:29, and 4:58 of the first quarter, and the eventual game-winner at 6:24 in the second quarter to put UCI up, 4-3
- Lynch was instrumental in all of UCI's six first half goals assisting on the final two goals of the half by Elena Flynn and Tara Prentice
- Faith Tedesco made eight saves alone in the second period including two denials on penalty shots
Second Half
- The 'Eaters and Bulldogs traded goals through the third period
- Tedesco shutout the Bulldogs in the fourth period which included four of her saves, one on a penalty shot, and one on the powerplay.
Match Notes
- The Anteaters remain unbeaten all-time against Fresno State now 3-0
- UCI won all four sprints on the match with Piper Smith successful twice and others won by Kili Skibby and Jessica Lynch
- Lynch added a steal to her statsheet, the only one credited to UC Irvine on the match
- Fanni Muzsnay led the Bulldog attack with 11 shots to lead all players scoring three times
- UCI scored on 38.5% of their shots putting 18 of 26 shots on frame with eight saved by Fresno State's Paula Nieto Jasny
Challenging Slate
The weekend continues with a second match for UCI Saturday taking on No. 8 Michigan at 12:30 p.m. The weekend concludes Sunday with a 9:00 a.m. contest against No. 5 Cal.
