Stockton, Calif. – The No. 18 Pacific women's water polo team was unable to overcome a slow start as it fell to visiting No. 7 UC Irvine, 8-5, in a Big West match Saturday at the Chris Kjeldsen Aquatics Complex.
Sophomore Taylor Adair led Pacific (16-10, 1-3 BWC) with four goals, tying her career-best mark for the third time this season. Fellow sophomore Brydie Pye added one score, extending her scoring streak to 14 straight games.
Goalkeeper Michele Relton finished with 13 saves in a complete-game effort. She eclipsed the 300-save mark on the season, and has now recorded 300 blocks in each of her three years at Pacific.
The Anteaters (15-7, 3-1 BWC) were on the offensive early, ripping off five quick goals while holding the Tigers scoreless in the first quarter. Hannah Croghan tallied four of UCI's opening-frame scores as Pacific had no answer for the junior attacker in the early going.
Pacific settled in during the second frame, however, holding UCI without a goal for the first five minutes. Adair got the Tigers on the board with a power-play goal at the 2:58 mark, but the visitors responded with consecutive goals to take a 7-1 lead into intermission.
Adair scored the first two goals of the third quarter for the Tigers, cutting UCI's lead to four, 7-3, with 3:48 on the clock. Croghan snapped Pacific's spurt with a power-play goal at the 2:31 mark, but Adair scored for the third time with just 15 seconds left as the Tigers trailed by four, 8-4, with one period left to play.
UC Irvine's defense held strong during the fourth quarter as the Anteaters snuffed out all of the Tigers' offensive chances. Pye's goal with one second on the clock resulted in the final margin.
All told, the Tigers outscored UCI by two, 5-3, after the first eight minutes.
Croghan led all scorers with six goals. Goalkeeper Jillian Yocum blocked nine shots for the Anteaters.
Pacific concludes its three-game home stand versus No. 8 Hawai'i next Saturday, April 6, at noon.
No. 7 UC Irvine 8, No. 18 Pacific 4
UC Irvine 5 – 2 – 1 – 0 –– 8
Pacific 0 – 1 – 3 – 1 –– 5
Goals
Pacific – Adair 4, Pye
UC Irvine – Croghan 6, Estrada, Mitchell
Goalkeeper Saves
Pacific – Relton 13
UC Irvine – Yocum 9
