Long Beach State University
UC Santa Barbara
Stragier wills 49ers past UCSB in water polo upset
4/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 29, 2011
Santa Barbara, Calif. - Senior goaltender Kristen Stragier made 14 saves for No. 16 Long Beach State and Krizia Cerda scored a pair fourth-quarter goals as the 49ers upset No. 14 UC Santa Barbara in the host pool in the opening round of the Big West Tournament 4-3.
Long Beach State struck early as Lauren Sieprath scored on the first possession of the game, and while the Gauchos evened the score at one, Stragier made eight first-half saves as the teams reached halftime tied at 1-1.
Julia Garyfallou put the 49ers back on top in the third period, but the Gauches answered back once more with a goal from Kathryn Nelson to head to the final period square at 2-2.
Cerda scored twice for the 49ers however in the fourth, the first coming directly after the 49ers won the sprint, and the second following a UCSB ejection with 4:55 remaining. With a two-goal lead, Stragier made four more saves in the fourth until the Gauchos pulled within one with just 25 seconds remaining in the contest.
Long Beach State will now play No. 2 CS Northridge for the chance to advance to the finals of the Big West Tournament tomorrow at 5:15 p.m. in Santa Barbara.
(6) No. 16 Long Beach State: 1, 0, 1, 2 | 4
(3) No. 14 UC Santa Barbara: 1, 0, 1, 1 | 3
GOALS
UCSB: Kathryn Nelson 2, Claire Buchanan
LBSU: Krizia Cerda 2, Julia Garyfallou, Lauren Sieprath
SAVES
UCSB: Ruth Milne, 10
LBSU: Kristen Stragier, 14
