IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine used stingy defense to topple CSUN 19-6 at the Anteater Aquatics Complex.

UCI held CSUN scoreless in the second period while pouring in seven goals to break open the game, 11-3 at the half.

Sophomore goalkeeper Ella Walker was impressive, recording a career-high 13 saves.

Redshirt Madi O'Hara led UCI with four goals, tying her career-high.

Freshman Pippa Heaver led all players with five points on career-high four assists and a goal, while sophomore Lauren Hett followed with four points on three goals and an assist.

The Anteaters have won seven straight games and improve to 11-9 overall and 3-0 in Big West action. CSUN goes to 15-7 on the year and 0-3 in the Big West.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Sara Naulty, Kennedy East and Gabbie Graniello each scored two goals
>Maja Layden, Avy Newton, Gracie Helberg, Brooke Hourigan and Vivian Bailey each added a goal in the win
>Dorottya Telek paced the Matadors with three goals
>UCI had 14 steals, led by Hourigan and Walker with three each
>The shots were close with UCI letting 29 fly to CSUN's 28, but the Anteaters converted on .655 and the Matadors just .214.

SCORING BREAKDOWN
FIRST PERIOD: With lack of offensive movement, Lauren Hett took it herself up top at 6:04…A Matador penalty shot tied the score at 5:05…At 4:05, Brooke Hourigan dumped the ball down to Madi O'Hara at set who turned and scored then Hett found Hourigan for a goal at 3:14 and Hett fired a penalty that Nioka Thomas drew at 2:39…CSUN stopped UCI's scoring streak with two of their own at (2:15 and 1:39) to close the scoring with UCI holding the slight 4-3 lead
              Hett (2), Hourigan (1), O'Hara (1)  
SECOND PERIOD: Hett snuck the ball just under the keeper's arm at 7:33…Pippa Heaver found O'Hara down low and battled the defender for a goal at 6:47 then she took a pass from Hourigan for another at 5:07…Heaver then stole the ball and drove all the way to the net for a goal (4:49)…Kennedy East took a pass from Heaver for a goal on the left side at 3:57.. Following a mid-pool exclusion, Gracie Helberg used a cross-pool pass from Sara Naulty to score at 2:22...Heaver would log another assist finding Vivian Bailey who scored at 1:36…the Anteaters would hold the Matadors scoreless and lead 11-3 at the break
              O'Hara (2), Hett (1), Heaver (1), East (1), Helberg (1), Bailey (1)
THIRD PERIOD: Helberg put a ball in the back of the cage from the right side at 6:59…CSUN snapped the scoring drought at 5:53 on a penalty shot…O'Hara fired a goal from long range at 3:57 then a shot by Naulty deflected off the keeper into the goal at 2:29…Naulty would swim in for another goal at 1:48 (15-4)…Maja Layden converted a penalty shot with 1:08 to go in the period, the final goal,  giving UCI a 16-4 lead.
              Naulty (2), Heldberg (1), O'Hara (1), Layden (1)
FOURTH PERIOD: CSUN won the sprint and scored on the first possession at 7:38 then scored again at 6:04 (16-6)…Avy Newton dished the ball to Gabbie Graniello who scored from the left side for a powerplay goal at 3:54…Graniello would score from the top of the arc this time at 2:43…With 40 seconds left, Newton put the ball between the cage and the keeper for the final goal of the game, 19-6
              Graniello (2), Newton (1)
 
NOTES
>The Anteaters have averaged 19.6 goals per game over their seven-game win streak

UP NEXT
UCI will take a break for finals and return to action on Mar. 25 when the entertain Brown at 6:00 p.m. at the Anteater Aquatics Center.