Long Beach State University
20-8
UC Santa Barbara
15-13
No. 3 Seed Long Beach State With Win Over No. 6 Seed UC Santa Barbara in Quarterfinals of Big West Conference Tournament
4/26/2024 6:23:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
The Beach will face No. 2 Seed UC Irvine in a semifinal matchup on Saturday.
DAVIS, Calif. - No. 3 Seed Long Beach State secured the win over No. 6 Seed UC Santa Barbara 8-6 in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament . Amanda Price and Lara Luka led the Beach with two goals each, while Chelsea Oliver controlled the cage and tied her season-high saves with 14.
Senior Rachael Kowalchick scored the first goal early in the period to give the Beach the 1-0 lead. UC Santa Barbara responded with two goals of their own to take the lead. Martina Cardona found the open Elisa Portillo on a power play to tie it back up, before Amanda Price scored in the last 10 seconds to go up 3-2 to end the first period.
The Gauchos scored the first goal of the second period on a power play, followed by a penalty goal to take a one point lead. Amanda Price found the back of the cage for her second goal of the game on the power play to end the second period tied at 4 apiece.
Martina Cardona struck first for the Beach to start the second half and scored her second goal of the game. Lara Luka snuck one past the goalie on the five-meter attempt to head into the final period up 6-5 after holding the Gauchos to just one third quarter goal.
The Beach came out firing to start the fourth period with goals from Luka and Grace Cuozzo to increase the lead to three. The Gauchos managed one more goal, but ultimately the Beach defense secured the win 8-6.
Long Beach State will take on No. 2 Seed UC Irvine in the second semifinal game Saturday at 2 p.m. Beach fans can watch the match on ESPN+ or follow live stats at thefosh.net.
Team Stats
Rachael Kowalchick
7:11
Leigh Lyter
6:45
Leigh Lyter
5:57
Elisa Portillo
5:10
Amanda Price
0:10
Annie Kuester
6:23
Cami Mras
5:42
Amanda Price
3:18
Martina Cardona
5:51
Mary Beth Heffelfinger
3:23
Lara Luka
1:02
Lara Luka
4:15
Grace Cuozzo
2:10
Annie Kuester
1:02
