No. 7 'Eaters Fall to No. 5 Cal in Cross Conference Challenge Finale

Sunday, January 23

Tempe, Ariz.

9:00 AM

UC Irvine

2-2

Cal

4-0

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	3	2	2	1	8
California	4	5	4	3	16

Photo by: Glenn Feingerts

No. 7 'Eaters Fall to No. 5 Cal in Cross Conference Challenge Finale

January 23, 2022 | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

TEMPE, Ariz. --- UC Irvine women's water polo ended the ASU Cross Conference Challenge Sunday against No. 5 Cal falling, 16-8.

The 'Eaters (2-2) fell behind after taking leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the first, but a four-goal run by No. 5 Cal (4-0) in the second gave them the four-goal advantage at the half and never looked back.

For the second straight match, Jessica Lynch led the team in scoring with a pair of goals and giving her seven on the weekend. Tara Prentice added a goal, her 10th of the season to lead UCI, as she's netted a goal in each match thus far.

Gabby Norris became the third freshman to score this year for the Anteaters in the second quarter. In net, Faith Tedesco stopped four shots as she dropped her second straight match.

Inside the Numbers

Jessica Lynch led the team in scoring for the second straight game scoring twice
Four Anteaters had two-point games with Kili Skibby, Piper Smith, and Tara Prentice each joining Lynch with a goal and an assist
Gabby Norris notched her first career goal at 7:02 left in the first half
Faith Tedesco was credited with the team's lone steal while stopping four shots in the match

First Half

The Anteaters led the match 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period following goals by Elena Flynn at 7:16 and Jessica Lynch at 5:23
Cal went on a run scoring four straight goals over 5:15 in the second period.
Piper Smith ended the half with a goal with one second left on the clock to draw Cal to within 9-5

Second Half

Tara Prentice opened up scoring in the third quarter at 6:23; the Anteaters opened scoring in two of four quarters despite being unsuccessful on all four quarter-opening sprints
The 'Eaters were held scoreless for nearly eight minutes while Cal scored four straight goals

Match Notes

The Anteaters led the match in shots, 28-27
UCI and Cal are now 2-2 over their last four matches; Cal remains ahead 21-3 in the all-time series
The 16 goals allowed and eight-goal defeat are the largest for UCI since 2019

Next Week
UCI returns to California to open its home slate next hosting a pair of matches on Saturday, February 5. The Anteaters begin the day at 12:00 p.m. hosting Azusa Pacific with the second at 3:00 p.m. against Concordia.