March 23, 2005

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After being tied at 8-8 in the fourth quarter, the Santa Clara women's water polo team dropped a hard-fought match to eighth-ranked UC Santa Barbara, 9-8 on Wednesday afternoon at Leavey Pool. With the loss, the Broncos drop to 11-9 on the season.

The teams were tied at 8-8 with 5:52 remaining in the game when Santa Clara's Andrea Evans evened the match for the seventh time. However, Santa Barbara's ZiZi Clark would convert a UCSB 6-on-5 opportunity only 13 seconds later to provide the Gaucho's the winning goal.

After winning the opening sprint, the Broncos took an early 1-0 lead with Catherine Flynn's first goal of the day only 1:17 into the contest. UCSB would score the next to goals to take its first lead of the contest at the 4:01 mark in the first quarter. However, the Broncos returned the favor as scores from Evans and Flynn put SCU ahead 3-2 with 59 seconds left in the quarter. With 23 seconds in the first, the Gauchos tied the score at 3-3 when Alaina Whitaker netted a goal to close out the period.

In the second quarter, the teams traded goals and headed into halftime knotted at 6-6. Flynn scored her third of the match in the frame, while Katie Radvanyi and Alanna Simpkins also found the back of the net for the Broncos.

UCSB took a 7-6 lead coming back from halftime when Whitaker scored only 48 seconds into the frame on an extra-man possession. Flynn added her fourth score of the game with 2:08 remaining in the third to once again even the score at 7-7.

Goalkeeper Kristin Barnes had a strong performance in the cage for Santa Clara with nine saves on the day.

The Broncos will continue their four-match homestand on Saturday when they welcome Hartwick to Leavey Pool. The match will begin at noon. Admission is free to all SCU water polo home games.