Long Beach State University Athletics
Garcia Leads Comeback Over UCSD
3/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
49ers Come Back on Tritons 6-5 LA JOLLA, CA-- Angelica Garcia tallied both of her goals in the fourth quarter as No. 4-ranked Long Beach State (11-3) adjusted after a slow start to defeat host UC San Diego (9-14) 6-5. After UCSD took a 3-1 lead early in the second quarter, LBSU scored five of the next six goals to win their third in a row. Garcia tied the game with 6:30 left in the fourth, at 4-4, and then gave the 49ers the lead for good, at 5-4 with 4:05 remaining. Cassie Azevedo'spenalty shot with 2:14 left, proved to be the difference, as it made it 6-4. Drue Wawrzynski also had two goals for LBSU, while Meris Bantilan-Smith had three for UCSD. "We started out flat, and UCSD countered by creating a nice situation with their unorthodox style of play to begin the game," said fifth-year Head Coach Ricardo Azevedo. "We were able to adjust by the third quarter and we outscored them 5-1. Give UCSD a lot of credit, they came out strong." Bri Hawkins (San Diego) tallied seven saves before a home crowd as the 49er defense allowed just three goals over the final three periods of play. Two of the Tritons' four goals were off of penalty shots, as on the season, LBSU has seen seven penalty shots called on them when they have played against the Tritons and against San Diego State at UCSD, and just one over the other 12 games. "This was the first collegiate game that my sister has been able to see me play," said Hawkins, who also played at UCSD's Tournament to open he season. "This pool brings back a lot of memories, coming back here after playing six years of club, the refs even said hi to me. But you have to put that behind you when you get in the pool and despite all of the adversities, during the game, our team showed a lot of maturity and was able to adjust and put the game away." UCSD opened up to a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a penalty shot and 6-on-5 goal from Bantilan-Smith, and led 3-1 on a Courtney Clevenger score with 6:26 remaining in the second period. But The Beach would settle down after that as Jessica Levin's goal with 1:34 left in the first half made it 3-2 and then LBSU slowly warmed up. Wawrzynski's second goal of the afternoon with 0.6 seconds left in the third, brought LBSU to within 4-3 Alison Braden missed a breakway with 4:37 left in the third period, which would have tied it, before Roberta Stewart missed another breakaway, at 2:24, which would have brought The Beach within one after Bantlin-Smith scored her third and final goal at 4:20.
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