Tedesco Shines In Cage; UCI Beats The Beach 14-13 In Overtime

Thursday, April 18

Long Beach, CA

7 p.m.

UC Irvine

17-10, 5-2

Long Beach State

20-8, 5-2

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	OT	Final F
UC Irvine	2	3	3	2	2	2	14
Long Beach State	2	3	2	3	1	2	13

Tedesco Shines In Cage; UCI Beats The Beach 14-13 In Overtime

April 18, 2024 | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

LONG BEACH, Calif. – It took an extra six minutes of action, but No. 8/8 UC Irvine came out on top 14-13 in overtime at Black and Blue rival No. 7/9 Long Beach State on Thursday evening.

Faith Tedesco was stalwart in the cage for the Anteaters as she collected a career high 19 saves. Lauren Hett came in clutch down the stretch scoring five of the last six goals for UCI including the game winner.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Libby Alexander notched the hat-trick with scores in the first three periods of the contest
Maja Layden and Annabelle Mundelius followed with two goals each apiece
Kili Skibby and Airian Grisham rounded out the scoring effort for UCI
Eight other 'Eaters deposited a shot into the cage
UCI was efficient with their shots, shooting at a 0.438 clip (14-32) to LBSU's 0.283 (13-46)
Grisham dished out a game best three assists while Skibby, Brooke Hourigan, and Gabby Norris all had two
Hett along with Helberg each stole the ball a team best two times
UCI converted eight of their power play chances (8-11) while The Beach only scored on seven (7-12)
No. 7/9 Long Beach State was led by Martina Cardona who recorded four goals on eight shots, had three assists, and two steals

SCORING BREAKDOWN

First period: No. 7/9 Long Beach State found the back of the goal first with a cross cage shot at 7:03. No. 8/8 UC Irvine got on the board when they found Libby Alexander (5:42) at the top of the formation and then took the lead when Kili Skibby found Airian Grisham (2:34) for the quick flick while up a player. The Beach tied the contest in the last 50 seconds with a five-meter penalty shot, 2-2.
- Alexander (1) and Grisham (1)
Second period: Alexander (7:15) responded quickly with a back post tip in after the Beach goal at 7:30. Maja Layden (2:32) went close range for the 4-4 equalizer before Annabelle Mundelius (1:35) received the ball on the give and go for a 1-on-1 with the LBSU goalkeeper. After drawing an exclusion, the Beach took a timeout and drew up a play to tie the game at 0:53, 5-5.
- Alexander (1), Layden (1), and Mundelius (1)
Third period: No. 8/8 UC Irvine started the third stanza off strong with two straight goals, one from Alexander (6:20) and the other a tap in at the back post from Kili Skibby (4:15), to take the advantage. Layden's slot past the defense at 2:57 was sandwiched between two LBSU scores as UCI led, 8-7.
- Alexander (1), Layden(1), and Skibby (1)
Fourth period: Both squads went back and forth in the period. Lauren Hett (5:19, 0:13) took control of the offense in the final period of regulation. At the very last second No. 7/9 Long Beach State found the back of the cage to send the game to overtime, 10-10.
- Hett (2)
First Overtime: Hett stole the show as she powered from long range just 30 seconds into the first extra time period. Despite the LBSU equalizer at 1:58, the freshman put UCI right back in front with her deep lob into the upper right corner (0:51), 12-11.
- Hett (2)
Second Overtime: No. 8/8 UC Irvine built on their advantage when Gabby Norris found Mundelius (1:55) wide open in the center position. LBSU closed within one before Hett's (1:03) bounce off the water became the eventual game winner. The Beach added one more on a power play chance (0:48) and Faith Tedesco came up with a huge stop with six seconds on the clock for the UC Irvine victory, 14-13.
- Hett (1) and Mundelius (1)