Stout Defense Keeps UCI Undefeated In Conference Play

Friday, March 31

Davis, CA

12 p.m.

UC Irvine

14-6

UC Davis

13-10

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	2	0	3	2	7
UC Davis	1	0	2	2	5

Stout Defense Keeps UCI Undefeated In Conference Play

March 31, 2023 | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

IRVINE, Calif.— In a goalkeeper dual, No. 6 UC Irvine (14-6, 4-0 BW) defeated No. 11 UC Davis (13-10, 3-1 BW) 7-5 to remain undefeated in conference play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>No. 6 UC Irvine outshot No. 11 UC Davis, 31-25
>Erin Tharp stopped seven shots in 32 minutes of action
>11 Anteaters tallied shots in the contest
>Kennedy East led the momentum for UCI, notching the hat-trick (3-5)
>Nioka Thomas was the other 'Eater who had multiple goals in the game, scoring two on her eight attempts
>Jessica Lynch had a game best three assists
>Jensine Bugelli stripped the ball away four times, a match high
>UC Davis was led by goalkeeper Sophia Noble who blocked 12 shots and had one steal

FIRST PERIOD
>The ball clanged off the bar which allowed UCI to reset on the offensive end, Brooke Banta (6:04) launched the shot into the upper left corner of the cage, 1-0
>Jessica Lynch found the sprinting Kennedy East (3:47), went one-on-one with the Aggies goalkeeper and snuck the ball in off the near post, 2-0
>A UC Davis player was left wide open on the far side of the action, scoring without ease at 2:10, 2-1

SECOND PERIOD
>Erin Tharp spread out her arms to cover the cage and came up with the huge block as she faced the undefended Aggie offensive player
>Nioka Thomas fired a shot point blank at UC Davis's Sophia Noble, blocking the fiery missile
>Thomas would try again on the spinning behind the back shot, but would be stopped by Noble's shoulder with five seconds left
>In a goalkeeper dual, Tharp blocked three shots and Noble stopped five over the eight minutes

THIRD PERIOD
>UC Davis came out of the break quickly to knot the game 2-2 at 7:44
>The Aggies took their first lead of the game at 6:53 after painting the cross-cage corner, 2-3
>Elena Flynn found Thomas (4:45) in the center to capitalize on the power play opportunity, 3-3
>In a catch and shoot momentum shift, Lynch found Airian Grisham (4:03) for the quick release, 4-3
>Tharp would be called for the exclusion after grabbing the ball as a foul was called and the UCI defense stepped up to block the tying shot in her absence.
>Thomas had the space in the center, turned and put it in the cage to continue the 'Eater run, 5-3 (3:09)

FOURTH PERIOD
>In a moment of confusion, the Anteater defense took off too early for their offensive possession allowing UC Davis to skip the ball into the cage at 7:00, 5-4
>Kili Skibby found East (2:13) on the near side for the deposit, 6-4
>East notched the hat-trick with just 41 ticks remaining on the back hand with help from Lynch, 7-4
>UC Davis was able to add one final tally to their column on the 6-on-5, 7-5 (0:22)

UP NEXT
The 'Eaters will host CSUN for a Saturday matinee on Friday, April 7^th at 12 p.m.