March 2, 2008

Stockton, Calif. - After surrendering 13 second half goal to No. 11 UC Irvine, the Pacific women's water polo team fell to the Anteaters by a score of 20-8 on Mar. 2 at Chris Kjeldsen in Stockton, Calif. With the loss, the Tigers' overall record fell to 3-11 on the season and 0-6 in MPSF contests, while the Anteaters advanced to 9-6 overall and 2-3 in MPSF play with their victory.

After getting off to a slow start and falling to an early 4-1 deficit after the first quarter, the Tigers responded nicely in the second period matching UC Irvine goal for goal to head to the break trailing 7-4. After play resumed following halftime however, the Anteaters scored nine unanswered goals including seven third period scores to take the game over late in the second half and to earn the victory.

Although the Tigers fell to the Anteaters by a final score of 20-8, senior Virginia McConnell (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) led the Tigers and all scorers in the contest with four goals in the game. McConnell scored once for the Tigers in the first period and then shocked the No. 11 Anteaters for three more scores late in the fourth.

Freshman Dara Tawarahara (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Bethany Quertermous (Humble, Texas) also found the back of the net for the Tigers in the loss. Tawarahara was the Tigers' second highest scored in the contest scoring three goals, while Quertermous tallied Pacific's eighth and final goal of the game to round out Pacific's offensive production on the day. While the Tigers only had three scorers on the afternoon, UC Irvine had ten different athletes record goals on the day.

The Pacific women's water polo team will return to action on Mar. 9, when they take on USC at home. The game will start at 12:00 p.m. and will be played at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.

Pacific: 1 - 3 - 0 - 4 = 8
UC Irvine: 4 - 3 - 7 - 6 = 20

Pacific Goals: Virginia McConnell - 4, Dara Tawarahara - 3, Bethany Quertermous - 1

UC Irvine Goals: Caitlin Haskell - 3, Nicole Flacco - 3, Ashling Taylor - 3, Erin Kiene - 2, Jessica Lewis - 2, Alli Russel - 2, Gianna Rossi - 2, Kat Plummer - 1, Cortney Collyer - 1, Trudy Chancellor - 1

Pacific Saves: Jocelyn Gray - 2 (1,2), Kate Casey - 1 (3), Jill Hauck - 0 (4)

UC Irvine Saves: Lauren Machanis - 5 (1,2), Lauren Davis - 3 (3,4)