No. 15 Long Beach State Rallies To Defeat No. 9 UC San Diego In Thriller

Friday, April 16

Long Beach, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

2-6, 1-3

UC San Diego

8-5, 3-1

UC San Diego

Long Beach State

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 15 Long Beach State Rallies To Defeat No. 9 UC San Diego In Thriller

4/16/2021 10:08:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

Elena Kotanchyan, Gabriella Matafora-Adams and Anne de Kleer each score three goals as the Beach defeats the Tritons.

Long Beach, Calif. — With 37 seconds remaining in regulation, Elena Kotanchyan cocked her arm and launched a shot that found the back of the cage.

Her power play goal proved to be the deciding one as the Beach (2-6, 1-3) knocked off No. 9 UC San Diego 15-14 in a thrilling come-from-behind Big West victory at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Friday night.

With three of the top five scorers in the Big West, the Tritons (9-5, 3-1) wasted no time getting on the board as Ciara Franke scored her first goal of the game less than a minute into the first quarter.

Grace Pevehouse scored on a penalty shot 54 seconds later to give the Tritons a 2-0 lead with 6:22 remaining in the first quarter.

Both teams couldn't find the back of the cage the rest of the quarter as UCSD went into the second quarter with a 2-0 lead.

In the second quarter both teams scored a combined 11 goals as they started to get into a rhythm.

After Annika Arroyo scored early in the second quarter to give the Tritons a 3-0 lead, the beach went on a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Mariah Walker, Gabriella Matafora-Adams and Sarah Barker.

GOAL! Mariah Walker scores to put the Beach on the board. LBSU trails UCSD, 3-1. #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/l1TsSLoWOg
— LBSU Water Polo (@LBSUWaterPolo) April 17, 2021

Anne de Kleer got in on the action as her first goal of the game cut UCSD's lead to 5-4 with 4:18 remaining in the first half.

Anne de Kleer scores and the Beach trails UCSD 5-4. pic.twitter.com/fNDAik48pJ
— LBSU Water Polo (@LBSUWaterPolo) April 17, 2021

In the last minute of the first half the teams combined for four goals as they went back and forth.

Karis Couch scored with 53 seconds remaining in the half to give the Tritons a 6-4 lead.

After Sydney Boland scored to give the Tritons a 7-5 lead with 16 seconds remaining in the half, Lena Kotanchyan scored with one second remaining as the Beach trailed 7-6 at halftime.

After two scoreless minutes in the third quarter, Matafora-Adams' second goal of the game tied things up at 7 with 5:59 remaining in the third.

Anne de Kleer gave the Beach their first lead when she connected on a powerplay to give LBSU an 8-7 lead.

That started a third quarter that featured four ties and four lead changes.

The Beach took the lead for good at the end of the third quarter when Matafora-Adams scored her third goal of the game on an empty cage after the Tritons subbed out their goalie to have seven in the field, which gave LBSU an 11-10 lead.

In the fourth quarter the Beach extended their lead to 13-10 after goals from Walker and Jamie Oberman.

Kotanchyan, Matafora-Adams and de Kleer each scored a team-high three goals, while Walker and Barker scored two goals apiece.

The Beach will be back at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Saturday to wrap up regular season play with a non-league game against UC San Diego that starts at Noon.

VIDEO: Listen to what coach @sha_welch had to say about tonight's thrilling victory over UC San Diego. #GoBeach | #LBNation pic.twitter.com/lp9PvDZMHG
— LBSU Water Polo (@LBSUWaterPolo) April 17, 2021