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Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
UC Santa Cruz
Water polo faces tough defenses at Hilton Invitational
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Feb. 9, 2008
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Rams Water Polo was met with strong defense on Saturday. Colorado State finished 1-2 on the first day of the Hilton Invitation at EPIC.
CSU knocked off UC Santa Cruz, 12-9, then sustained setbacks to Marist, 11-5, and Bucknell, 12-9.
In the day's early morning opener, the Rams picked up their first win of the season, a triumph over UC Santa Cruz.
"We came to win and we need to win more tomorrow," said Head Coach Mattos. The Rams finished the day with a nail-biter vs. Bucknell. CSU came out strong on defense, keeping the score tied until the fourth quarter.
Emily Chambers played a strong, aggressive game vs. Bucknell and registered a hat trick. Kailin Custy played strong and had a goal. Andrea Victoria played aggressive and had multiple steals. Sarah Ostling, Ali Pavlik, Emily McCullough, and Annie Quinn also had goals.
"Tomorrow's goal is to win," said Mattos. "We had a rough start, but we know we can play with anyone at this tournament."
In the Game 1 win, against the Banana Slugs, Pavlik played well and added another hat trick, her third of the season. Quinn also had a hat trick, while Chambers and Ostling scored twice, and Shannon Kohl and McCullough also scored.
Sophomore goalie Krystyna McCright had a single-game season high of 15 saves vs. UC Santa Cruz to tie her career high.
In Game 2 against Marist, following an early season trend, the young Rams fell behind early and made it hard to come back against a stingy Foxes defense. Marist shut out the Rams in the first quarter. At the half CSU was down 5-1 and after the third it seemed a challenge to come back from 9-2.
Quinn, a senior captain, was able to hold off Marist's defense and score a hat trick. Pavlik struggled to break free from the defense, but was able to score in the third. Kohl also scored for the Rams.
"There were too many turnovers against a disciplined team," Mattos said. Mattos hopes that tomorrow the Rams will have the winning mentality, of which he knows they're capable.
After a round-robin competition on Day 1 Saturday, the Rams went 1-2 and hold the No. 3 seed for the final day of the tournament Sunday. They'll open Sunday at 9 a.m. with the No. 2 seed, a rematch with Marist (2-1), and no doubt will look to avenge Saturday's loss.
No. 1 seed Bucknell (3-0) kicks off Sunday with a 7:30 a.m. tilt against
No. 4 seed UC Santa Cruz (0-3). The winners of the first two games meet at 1:15 p.m., while the consolation game takes place at 11:45 a.m. All games are at EPIC and are free to the public.
