IRVINE, Calif. –Kendall Houck, Katie Ratcliff, and Spencer Samuel scored multiple times, but the No. 21 San Diego State water polo team came up one goal short in an 11-10 defeat at the hands of the No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Saturday in day two of the 2022 Barbara Kalbus Invitational.
Lucia Carballo, Sydney Hurst and Samuel scored in the first quarter and after eight minutes the teams were tied 3-3. Carballo got the opening goal of the game, at the 7:34 mark. The Gauchos responded 32 seconds later to tie it and Hurst found the back of the cage with 6:45 to play to put the Aztecs back in front, 2-1. UC Santa Barbara (10-5) answered ahead of Samuels' goal at the 1:20 mark, before UCSB tied it with 10 seconds to go.
The Gauchos got the first two goals of the second quarter to take a 5-3 lead, but first Karli Canale and then Jessica Leckich recorded goals to draw the Aztecs level with UCSB with 3:11 to play before the intermission. The teams traded goals with the second of the two credited to Ratcliff with 1:22 to play before the half to make it 6-6, but UC Santa Barbara got the last two goals of the quarter to take an 8-6 advantage into the break.
Houck, coming out of halftime, scored twice, at 5:05 and 3:42, to tie it at 8-8. However, the Gauchos got the last goal of the stanza and led 9-8 heading into the final quarter.
The team traded the final four goals of the game. UCSB scored first in the fourth to push its advantage to 10-8. Ratcliff picked up her second goal of the game, with 2:43 left in regulation, to get SDSU back within a goal. UCSB got its last tally with 16 seconds to go to regain a two-point margin, 11-9. Samuel put San Diego State (1-7) back within a goal with six seconds to play, but the clock ran out before the Aztecs could find the equalizer.
Canale and Laurene Padilla led the attack with four shots each. In addition to Samuels' two goals both she and Rose Kanemy led the team with a pair of assists each. In goal, Kelly Villanueva went the entire way making a game-high seven saves.
The Gauchos got balanced scoring, getting a pair of goals from five different players and goalie Madison Button made five saves in the win.
STAT OF THE DAY
The Aztecs had three players score multiple goals.
UP NEXT
San Diego State wraps up action in the 2022 Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Sunday with an 8 a.m. game against No. 18 Loyola Marymount and then a noon contest against Pomona-Pitzer, the No.1-ranked Division III team in the nation. Both games feature live stats, a link to which is located on the team schedule page at goaztecs.com.
UC Santa Barbara: 3-5-1-2 - 11
San Diego State: 3-3-2-2 - 10
UC Santa Barbara Goals: Amaral (2), Halvorson (2), Kuester (2), Lyter (2), Snyder (2), Owens (1)
San Diego State Goals: Houck (2), Ratcliff (2), Samuel (2), Canale (1),Carballo (1), Hurst (1), Leckich (1)
UC Santa Barbara Saves: Button (5)
San Diego State Saves: Villanueva (7)
-SDSU-
No. 21 Aztecs Come Up Short Against No. 15 UCSB
