March 21, 2008

Stockton, Calif. - Despite pushing No. 13 Cal State Northridge to overtime, the Pacific women's water polo team fell to the Matadors by a score of 7-6 on senior day at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. With the loss, the Tigers fell to 4-17 on the season, while the Matadors escaped with the win to improve their overall record to 8-10.

Senior Virginia McConnell (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) and freshman Dara Tawarahara (Honolulu, Hawaii) led the Tiger in scoring in the loss with three goals a piece. McConnell scored the Tigers' first and only goal of the first period as they fell behind to the Matadors by a score of 3-1 early.

Tawarahara then scored two of the Tigers' next three goals over the course of the last three quarters of regulation as McConnell would also add one more in the third.

Senior Jocelyn Gray (Strathmore, Alberta, Canada) was in goal for the Tigers and tallied an impressive 16 saves on the evening, including two great stops in one-on-one situations at the end of the third and fourth quarters that could have sealed the victory for the Matadors.

After outscoring Cal State Northridge by a margin of 3-2 in the second half, the Tigers then forced the game into overtime where the Matadors scored two goals in the first of two three-minute overtime periods to retake the lead. Although McConnell would add one final goal for the Tigers late in the second overtime period, Pacific's efforts fell short as they lost to Cal State Northridge by a final of 7-6.

Before the game seniors McConnell, Gray, and Kellie Fletcher (Roseville, Calif.) were all honored by teammates, family, friends, and fans as the contest was their last home game at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. Although the Tigers will not play any more home games this year, they still have nine games left to play on the season before the MPSF tournament.

The Tigers will next be in action on March 29, when they will participate in the Arizona State invitational on Mar. 29-30.

Pacific: 1 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 1 = 6
Northridge: 3 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2 = 7

Pacific Goals: Virginia McConnell - 3, Dara Tawarahara - 3

Northridge Goals: Sydney Sonoda - 3, Jessica Coy - 2, Kristin McLaughlin - 1

Pacific Saves: Jocelyn Gray - 16

Northridge Saves: Jillian Stapf - 10