'Eaters Drop 12-11 In Down To The Wire Contest

Saturday, January 28

Riverside, CA

8 a.m.

UC Irvine

3-2

Pacific

2-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Pacific	2	4	1	5	12
UC Irvine	4	0	4	3	11

Photo by: Regents of the University of California

'Eaters Drop 12-11 In Down To The Wire Contest

January 28, 2023 | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – In a down to the wire contest, No. 6 UC Irvine (3-2) fell to No. 19 Pacific (2-1) 12-11 in the final 11 seconds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>No. 19 Pacific outshot No. 6 UC Irvine, 28-26
>Six Anteaters scored in the contest
>Erin Tharp earned the start in cage, making seven saves
>Nioka Thomas tied the game lead with four goals on six shots
>Elena Flynn (2-7) and Jessica Lynch (2-5) were the other two Anteaters to score multiple goals
>Kennedy East, Thomas, Flynn, and Lynch all dished out an assist
>Airian Grisham, Flynn, and Lynch combined for UCI's three steals
>No. 19 Pacific was led by both Szamira Koppany and Dora Alaksza, each of them recording four goals

FIRST PERIOD
>Nioka Thomas netted both the first and second UCI goals of the contest (6:21, 5:42) on back-to-back possessions, 2-0
>No. 19 Pacific called a timeout after the two quick 'Eater goals
>Out of the break, Brooke Banta found the back of the cage at 5:21 off the assist from Kennedy East, 3-0
>A stop by Erin Tharp led into the counterattack where Elena Flynn found Libby Alexander at 2:30 to stretch the UCI lead, 4-0
>No. 19 Pacific added their first tally of the game with 2:16 remaining, 4-1
>An Anteater turnover allowed the Tigers to put the ball in the cage, 4-2 (1:01)

SECOND PERIOD
>UOP was able to close within one at 5:26 after converting on a five-meter attempts, 4-3
>The Tigers knotted the game at 4-all with 2:56 remaining in the half
>No. 19 Pacific hit an offensive stride with goals at 2:25 and 1:26 to take the lead, 4-6
>UCI had four shots in the period, three of them blocked by the defense

THIRD PERIOD
>No. 6 UC Irvine called a timeout at 5:45 to regroup, allowing Elena Flynn to score at 5:40, 5-6
>The Anteaters gained an extra man at 5:30 and Jessica Lynch capitalized seven seconds later, 6-6
>Thomas notched the hat-trick at 3:59 and Flynn recorded her second goal at 2:36 to put the Anteaters in the lead, 8-6
>UOP earned the power play opportunity, scoring to bring themselves back within one, 8-7 (2:03)

FOURTH PERIOD
>Jensine Bugelli beat the goalie at 6:45 on the pass from Thomas, 9-7
>The Tigers stormed back on the following drive to stay within one, 9-8 (6:06)
>UCI answered on the next offensive play when Thomas (5:35) scored her fourth goal of the game, 10-8
>Pacific dented the twine with 3:28 remaining on the one-man advantage before finding the back of the goal at 2:16 to tie the game, 10-10
>UOP blocked the UCI shot to take the ball down to the pool to pull ahead, 10-11 (1:33)
>With 56 ticks left on the clock, Jessica Lynch deposited a shot into the net to knot the game 11-11 forcing the Tigers to call a timeout
>Pacific was able to sneak one past the Anteater defense at 0:11, 12-11

UP NEXT
The 'Eaters will close out the Lancer Joust Invitational at 2:15 p.m. when they face Fresno Pacific.