While the Aggies took down San Diego State University and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps easily, they could not get past UC San Diego and University of Michigan
By COLINA HARVEY— sports@theaggie.org
On the weekend of Jan. 30, the UC Davis women’s water polo team traveled to UC San Diego (UCSD) to participate in the Triton Invite, a three-day tournament with 16 other teams from around the country.
On day one, the Aggies took on the host team, the UCSD Tritons. The two teams were very evenly matched, with the Aggies recording 28-shots against the Tritons’ 26. UC Davis came out ahead early when Sadie Henry, a third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, netted the first goal of the game. The Tritons scored three goals in a row to end the quarter and went into the break leading 5-4.
In the second quarter, the Aggies were outscored again, leading to a halftime score of 8-6. In the third quarter, the Aggies fought to catch up to the Tritons, with back-to-back goals by Ashley Wallin, a fourth-year psychology major, and another by Henry. Going into the fourth quarter, the Aggies trailed by only one goal.
In the fourth, the Aggies tied up the game 10-10 with a goal from Gianna Nocetti, a fifth-year mechanical engineering major. With less than two minutes to go, the Tritons fired back with a goal of their own. Bridget Miller, a third-year human development major, scored one last goal for the Aggies in crunch time, tying the game up again. With just six seconds to go, the Tritons managed to score a winning goal, edging out the Aggies 11-12.
Wallin had an impressive team high of four goals in the match up and Henry was close behind, recording three.
On day two, the Aggies’ first matchup of the day was against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Athenas. In the first quarter, Miller opened the scoring with back-to-back goals and ended the quarter with a hat-trick. In the second quarter, the Aggies shut out the Athenas, building up a 7-1 lead by the halfway mark. The Athenas pushed to close the lead with three goals in the fourth quarter, but the Aggies comfortably secured the win, with an end score of 12-5. Miller finished with a game-high of four goals.
In their second game of the day, the Aggies played the San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztecs. The match was even in the first half, with the Aggies holding a one-goal lead at halftime. However, in the second half, the Aggies surged ahead, scoring five goals while the Aztecs only had one. The game ended with a score of 11-6, marking the second win of the day for the Aggies. On day two’s matches, Miller combined for an impressive six goals.
On the third day of the tournament, the Aggies played the University of Michigan Wolverines in a ninth-place match. In the first quarter, each team had two goals, with Nocetti and Liberty Massman, a fourth-year human development major, both scoring. However, the Wolverines surged ahead in the second, leading the Aggies by three goals at the half.
In the second half, Michigan’s scoring did not let up; they ended up beating the Aggies 11-5. As a result, the Aggies placed 10th in the tournament out of 16 teams.
Next up on the schedule, the Aggies are set to attend the Midwest Invite Women’s Water Polo Tournament on Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They will then transition to the Big West Competition.
Written by: Colina Harvey — sports@theaggie.org
