LA JOLLA, Calif. – In a close finish, No. 9 UC Irvine (6-2) was able to prevail against Black and Blue rival No. 7 Long Beach State (4-2), 8-7.
 
The Anteaters finished first in their group in the Triton Invitational.

FIRST PERIOD
>No. 9 Long Beach State found themselves on the board first at 4:39, 0-1
>Airian Grisham earned the first goal for UCI at 3:57 before Kennedy East scored the go-ahead goal at 3:18 on the following offensive possession, 2-1
>The Beach fought back to lock it at 2-all (2:11)
>On the next trip down the pool, LBSU went ahead, but Elena Flynn's goal at 1:03 knotted the two squads, 3-3
 
SECOND PERIOD
>A UCI exclusion gave Long Beach State the chance to score on a five-meter penalty, 3-4 (7:07)
>Both teams were scoreless for four minutes until Flynn (3:14) expunged the offensive drought, 4-4
>Brooke Banta scored the last goal of the half to put the Anteaters up, 5-4

THIRD PERIOD
>Banta struck again at 5:29 for her second goal of the contest, 6-4
>Flynn notched the hat-trick at 3:36 to stretch the 'Eater advantage, 7-4
>No. 9 Long Beach State found a way to put it in the back of the net, 7-5 (2:17)
>With 54 seconds remaining the in the period, Nioka Thomas deposited a ball in the net, 8-5
 
FOURTH PERIOD
>LBSU started to claw their way back at 5:25, 8-6
>The Beach closed within one in the final 56 seconds, 8-7
>Both teams called timeouts on their next offensive possession, but neither squad was able to capatlize

UP NEXT
UCI continues action against No. 2 USC in a 3:40 p.m. showdown.