Game Recap: Women's Water Polo | | Stacey Shackleford
Thomas' Career-High Paces No. 13/8 UC Irvine Past Titans, 16-5
FULLERTON, Calif. – Senior Nioka Thomas posted a career-high five goals to lead No. 13/8 UC Irvine to a 16-5 win over Cal State Fullerton Wednesday at Fullerton Junior College to open the Big West schedule.
UCI broke open the game out-scoring Cal State Fullerton 5-0 in the second period and held the Titans to just one goal in each of the final two frames.
Sophomore Vivian Bailey was also impressive, recording a career-high three goals on three shots to help the Anteaters (8-9, 1-0) win their fourth straight game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Brooke Hourigan and Deirdre Murphy each scored two goals with Hourigan swiping a game-high four steals
>Sara Naulty, Lauren Hett and Kennedy East each added a goal
>Pippa Heaver had a team-best three assists
>Rachel Kirchner starts in the net and recorded 11 saves
>CSUF (9-12, 0-1) was led by Emme Doube-MacLeod with two goals while goalkeepers Sienna Bertsch and Alexandra Ortiz each had two saves
>UCI scored 16 goals on 30 shots (.533), while the Titans could only convert 5-31 (.131)
SCORING BREAKDOWN
FIRST PERIOD: The Titans opened the scoring before Brooke Hourigan answered back at 7:10…Nioka Thomas scored on the powerplay (5:54) then CSUF would tie it up 2-2 at 4:45…Thomas scored her second goal of period off a pass from Pippa Heaver (3-2, 3:40)…Annabelle Mundelius stole the ball on one end and Madi O'Hara drew the exclusion on the other leading to a Sara Naulty goal at 1:33 (4-2)…The Titans edged closer with a goal at 1:13 to close out the period, 4-3
Thomas (2), Hourigan (1), Naulty (1)
SECOND PERIOD: It didn't take long for Lauren Hett to find the back of the net, 5-3 (7:34)…Kennedy East stole the ball then Thomas scored on the next possession, 6-3 (6:55)…Hourigan extended the lead at 4:36 with a goal from a Heaver pass (7-3)…Libby Alexander would find Thomas down low for another goal, 8-3 (1:23)…Vivian Bailey got into the scoring column with a goal with 30 seconds remaining, 9-3
Thomas (2), Hett (1), Hourigan (1), Bailey (1)
THIRD PERIOD: Bailey would continue the scoring with the first goal of the third period on the powerplay at 6:30 (10-3)…CSUF broke the scoring drought with a goal at 6:18 (9-4) before Gracie Helberg fed the hot-hand as Bailey deposited another in the back of the net at 5:01 (11-4)…Hourigan dished to Thomas who scored at 3:56 to put UCI up 12-4.
Bailey (2), Thomas (1)
FOURTH PERIOD: Kennedy East won the sprint then scored, 13-4 (7:26)…After the Titans let the shot clock expire, Diedre Murphy dented the twine at 5:30, 14-4…Following an Anteater timeout, Naulty scored to give UCI a 15-4 advantage (4:40)…Cal State Fullerton took advantage of an extra player to score at 3:23 (15-5) then Murphy would end the scoring, 16-5
East (1), Murphy (2), Naulty (1)
NOTES
>UCI has won by 11 or more goals in each of the last four games
>Thomas now has a team-best in goals with 28
UP NEXT
UCI will head to No. 8/8 UC San Diego in another Big West showdown on Saturday (Mar. 8) at the Canyonview Aquatics Center starting at 12:00 p.m.
UCI broke open the game out-scoring Cal State Fullerton 5-0 in the second period and held the Titans to just one goal in each of the final two frames.
Sophomore Vivian Bailey was also impressive, recording a career-high three goals on three shots to help the Anteaters (8-9, 1-0) win their fourth straight game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Brooke Hourigan and Deirdre Murphy each scored two goals with Hourigan swiping a game-high four steals
>Sara Naulty, Lauren Hett and Kennedy East each added a goal
>Pippa Heaver had a team-best three assists
>Rachel Kirchner starts in the net and recorded 11 saves
>CSUF (9-12, 0-1) was led by Emme Doube-MacLeod with two goals while goalkeepers Sienna Bertsch and Alexandra Ortiz each had two saves
>UCI scored 16 goals on 30 shots (.533), while the Titans could only convert 5-31 (.131)
SCORING BREAKDOWN
FIRST PERIOD: The Titans opened the scoring before Brooke Hourigan answered back at 7:10…Nioka Thomas scored on the powerplay (5:54) then CSUF would tie it up 2-2 at 4:45…Thomas scored her second goal of period off a pass from Pippa Heaver (3-2, 3:40)…Annabelle Mundelius stole the ball on one end and Madi O'Hara drew the exclusion on the other leading to a Sara Naulty goal at 1:33 (4-2)…The Titans edged closer with a goal at 1:13 to close out the period, 4-3
Thomas (2), Hourigan (1), Naulty (1)
SECOND PERIOD: It didn't take long for Lauren Hett to find the back of the net, 5-3 (7:34)…Kennedy East stole the ball then Thomas scored on the next possession, 6-3 (6:55)…Hourigan extended the lead at 4:36 with a goal from a Heaver pass (7-3)…Libby Alexander would find Thomas down low for another goal, 8-3 (1:23)…Vivian Bailey got into the scoring column with a goal with 30 seconds remaining, 9-3
Thomas (2), Hett (1), Hourigan (1), Bailey (1)
THIRD PERIOD: Bailey would continue the scoring with the first goal of the third period on the powerplay at 6:30 (10-3)…CSUF broke the scoring drought with a goal at 6:18 (9-4) before Gracie Helberg fed the hot-hand as Bailey deposited another in the back of the net at 5:01 (11-4)…Hourigan dished to Thomas who scored at 3:56 to put UCI up 12-4.
Bailey (2), Thomas (1)
FOURTH PERIOD: Kennedy East won the sprint then scored, 13-4 (7:26)…After the Titans let the shot clock expire, Diedre Murphy dented the twine at 5:30, 14-4…Following an Anteater timeout, Naulty scored to give UCI a 15-4 advantage (4:40)…Cal State Fullerton took advantage of an extra player to score at 3:23 (15-5) then Murphy would end the scoring, 16-5
East (1), Murphy (2), Naulty (1)
NOTES
>UCI has won by 11 or more goals in each of the last four games
>Thomas now has a team-best in goals with 28
UP NEXT
UCI will head to No. 8/8 UC San Diego in another Big West showdown on Saturday (Mar. 8) at the Canyonview Aquatics Center starting at 12:00 p.m.
