No. 13 Long Beach State Responds With Two Top 20 Wins In Triton Invite

Saturday, February 3

La Jolla Calif.

12:40 PM

Long Beach State University

San Diego State

Long Beach State

No. 13 Long Beach State Responds With Two Top 20 Wins In Triton Invite

2/3/2024 7:37:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Beach offense led the way with two 16-9 victories.

By: Nicole Hoff, Athletic Communications Assistant

LA JOLLA, Calif.- No. 13 Long Beach State came away with two big victories in the second day of the Triton Invite, a 16-9 victory over No. 18 San Diego State and another 16-9 win over the hosts, No. 9 UC San Diego. Lara Luka led the way for the Beach with 12 goals on the day.

The Beach offense came out hot scoring eight goals in the first quarter of the opener, with seven different players finding the back of the net. The Aztecs responded with two goals of their own to end the quarter. Luka responded to an early second quarter goal from San Diego State with her third goal of the match. The Beach then went on to score three goals straight to end the first half up 12-3.

The Beach started the second half with an early goal from Luka in the first 30 seconds. The Aztecs scored two goals of their own, before the Beach responded with three goals to end the third quarter to take a 10 point lead. The Aztecs pushed back and scored three goals in the fourth, but couldn't overcome the Beach lead.

Along with Luka, Elisa Portillo, Anne de Kleer, Rachael Kowalchick, and Kathryn McCullough each scored two goals in the victory.

In their second game of the day, Long Beach State faced the hosts, No. 9 UC San Diego, and came out on top with a 16-9 win. Luka and Portillo led the Beach with 7 and 6 goals respectively.

The Beach offense continued their momentum from the first game and scored three straight goals to start the first quarter. The Tritons would respond with five goals of their own, before Luka would score her second goal of the game to put the team down 5-4 at the end of the first. To start the second quarter, both teams exchange goals back and forth, but Luka would help the Beach take a 8-7 lead at the end of the half.

Portillo kicks it off for the Beach with a goal at 6:39 to extend the lead to 9-7. Luka helps create a four-goal lead after a five-meter penalty goal and an assist from Kowalchick. Each team would add a goal at the end of the third with Long Beach State leading 12-8. The Beach defense showed up in the fourth quarter, giving up no goals to the Tritons. The first goal of the fourth period comes at 6:28 by Martina Cardona, increasing the Beach lead to 14-9. Portillo scores two more goals to secure the win for the Beach 16-9.

The Beach will play their final match of the Triton Invite Sunday, February 4th at 10:40 a.m. against No. 11 LMU. Beach fans can follow along on social media @LBSUWaterPolo on Twitter and @lbsuwwp on Instagram for updates.