UCI's Championship Run Ends In Semifinal Round

IRVINE, Calif. – The Anteaters scored three straight goals in the fourth period with a chance to send the game to overtime but were denied twice at the cage in the final 47 seconds, in a 12-11 loss to Black and Blue rival Long Beach State in the semifinals of the Big West Championship.
 
Sophomore Lauren Hett poured in two of her team-best four goals in the closing four and a half minutes of the contest and also dished two assists in the game. The attacker recorded a team-high three drawn exclusions while also credited with two takeaways.
 
UC Irvine ends the season with a 15-13 overall record, 5-2 in the Big West.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Brooke Hourigan was the only other Anteater to post multiple goals, scoring two on seven chances
• Five UCI players chipped in the other tallies
• Along with Hett, Hourigan also recorded two dimes
• Rachel Kirchner made six saves in the cage to go with a steal
• Nioka Thomas stripped her opponents three times, a game-best
• Madi O'Hara drew three exclusions
• Second seeded and No. 6/6 Long Beach State was led by Amanda Price's hat-trick as she was a perfect 3-3 at the cage. Chelsea Oliver posted 16 saves.

 
SCORING BREAKDOWN

• First period: No. 6/6 Long Beach State controlled for the first five minutes of the contest, putting three balls away after drawing an exclusion and then on a lofted shot that hit as the shot clock expired. The Anteaters called a timeout to draw up a play for Lauren Hett to strike from distance at 2:44 to put No. 7/7 UC Irvine on the board. The Beach found the cage again at 1:51 with the nearside put-in before Sara Naulty (1:39) converted the five-meter attempt to draw to 5-2.
  • Hett (1) and Naulty (1)
• Second period: The Beach scored first at 6:39 as they quickly released on the power play and then Brooke Hourigan (5:58) popped and swung her shot past the defense into the opposite side of the netting to keep it within three. LBSU answered that with two scores while up a player both times. A Gracie Helberg steal led to the play the set up Hett to fire on the nearside at 3:11. After the second seeded Long Beach State squad once again utilized the one player advantage, Hett passed over to Nioka Thomas (1:12) for the outside strike as the Beach kept the Anteaters at bay, 9-5, headed into the halftime break.
  • Hett (1), Hourigan (1), and Thomas (1)
• Third period: UCI came out of the break focused, pulling within two scores as Hourigan (6:52) put her skip shot into the bottom left corner and Annabelle Mundelius' (4:33) second chance lofted shot into the upper right corner. Two straight from the Beach strengthened their advantage until Sara Naulty fed Madi O'Hara in center for the no look dagger with 27 seconds left in the third stanza to bring it to 11-8.
  • Hourigan (1), Mundelius (1), and O'Hara (1)
• Fourth period: LBSU strengthened their lead at 6:31 as their last second loft hit the post and bounced behind the line. Hett mounted the attack for the 'Eaters as Kennedy East swung over to the sophomore attacker at the top of the formation at 4:36 and then had an off-speed placement into the upper right corner at 2:24. East followed that up as she knocked the ball off the post and in to make it a one-point game, 12-11, with 1:28 remaining. UCI had the chance to knot the game twice, the first a saved penalty shot with 47 ticks on the clock and again in the dwindling seconds of the contest as the wind up was blocked by a field player but were unable to put themselves in the position to force overtime.  
  • Hett (2) and East (1)