UC Davis Pulls Away Late From Shorthanded Long Beach State

Friday, April 5

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

UC Davis

Photo by: Photo by John Fajardo

4/5/2019 9:33:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

No. 12 Long Beach State was neck and neck with No. 9 UC Davis, but couldn’t fight back in fourth, 10-7.

By: Antonio Camberos, Athletic Communications Coordinator

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State led 7-5 as late as the third quarter against UC Davis, but third exclusions to team leaders Orsi Hertzka and Marilla Mimidi allowed the Aggies to score five unanswered on the way to a 10-7 win Friday.

Long Beach State (15-11, 1-1 Big West) looked to pull away in the fourth against No. 9 UC Davis (16-9, 2-1 Big West) but three goals in the fourth quarter in favor of UCD sealed the deal for the Aggies, 10-7. The Beach were led by Hertzka, and sophomore Olivia Grim in scoring as they had 2 goals each.

UC Davis put themselves on the scoreboard first in the opening seconds of the game. However, LBSU would top the Aggies in the quarter holding the lead, 3-2. Hertzka, Mimidi, and junior Paige Bennett scored in the first period for the Beach.

The Aggies would jump the gun and scored first again in the second period. Grim scored her first goal of the game halfway through the second quarter. UC Davis netted two more goals to make it 5-4, but in the closing seconds of the half, senior Tori Morrissey lobbed it to Hertzka for a 5-5 tie.

LBSU would come out hot in the third period with Grim and Morrissey both scoring to give the Beach their first lead of the game, 7-5. In a match that featured over 30 kickouts, however, losing Mimidi and Hetzka allowed UC Davis to crawl back into the game as they tied, 7-7 before the end of the third.

The fourth quarter would be all Aggies as they struck three times to push a 10-7 lead. The Beach would take multiple shots to pull closer, but none would fall.

Hertzka added two goals to her total on the season and now has 60 goals on the year. The 60 goals for Hertzka ties her with Chelsea Parks for 7th in most goals scored in a single season in LBSU history. Mimidi pushes her total to 39 goals on the year, while Grim has topped 28 goals. Bennett now has 15 goals on the year with her first quarter score. Morrissey has 29 goals on the season, along with 24 assists. Morrissey's 24 assists has her four assists shy of tying Tara Campbell and Roberta Stewart for 10th in most assists in a single season in LBSU history.

The Beach will be back in action on Sunday, 12 p.m. at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center as they host No. 4 Hawai'i.