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UCSB women’s water polo completes comeback win over CSUN
By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS WRITER
The No. 10 UCSB women’s water polo team (16-8, 1-3 Big West) celebrated Senior Day with an absolute thriller of a match Saturday, erasing a 4-0 deficit before defeating No. 23 CSUN (16-10, 0-4 Big West) in sudden-death overtime, 13-12. Nearly three minutes into the sudden-death period, Annie Kuester gathered the rebound after Juju Amaral’s shot hit the post, then guided the ball past the Matador goalkeeper to score the game-winning goal. All three of UCSB’s graduating seniors — Drew Halvorson, Sarah Owens, and Caitlyn Snyder — scored a goal on their Senior Day.
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After falling behind, 4-0, in the first quarter, the Gauchos stormed back in the second, scoring three goals in the first two minutes of the period, en route to tallying five before halftime. At the break, CSUN led by two, and the visitors stretched their advantage in the third quarter, leading 9-6 going into the fourth quarter. Munson and Mackay scored to bring the Gauchos within one with six minutes left, but CSUN had their lead back up to two with three minutes to go. Goals from Snyder and Lyter tied the game, then Amaral converted a penalty with 21 seconds to play, seemingly completing the comeback. However, CSUN scored to tie the match with only five seconds remaining, then took the lead in the first overtime period. Halvorson answered in the second overtime period, sending the match into a third, sudden-death overtime. With nine seconds left in the sudden- death period, Amaral’s attempt bounced off the cage, and Kuester turned home the rebound, finishing off the Gauchos’ comeback.
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UCSB will be on the road for their final four regular season games, starting with a nonconference matchup at Biola on Friday. The ball will hit the water in Los Angeles at 1 p.m. in that match. The Gauchos will be back at Campus Pool for The Big West Championship, beginning on April 28.
Eric Boose is assistant director of athletic communications at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com
