Stockton, Calif. - No. 15 Pacific women's water polo team won its ninth in a row with a 14-5 win over Fresno Pacific Thursday in the Golden Coast Conference Championship quarterfinals at Pacific's Chris Kjeldsen Pool. Noelle Mann posted her second career hat-trick and Ellen Tiedemann tallied her first career hat-trick in the victory.
The Tigers received an offensive boost from their secondary scoring weapons as Mann doubled her season-to-date scoring output, and Tiedemann capped her first career multi-goal game with her first three-goal game. Aelish Guinn and Taylor Adair each added two goals, while Brydie Pye, Megan Torre, and Crystal Villanueva each added one. Leading scorers Anna Kertes, the GCC co-Player of the Year, and Gracie Smith were scoreless as the Tigers used their bench to keep fresh troops for the rest of the tournament.
Michele Relton made 14 saves before giving way to Alexis Hollinrake for the final 3:44 of the match. The Tigers improve to 15-9 overall with their ninth-straight victory. Pacific advances to face Loyola Marymount Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the semifinals, LMU downed Santa Clara 13-10 in the first quarterfinal earlier in the day.
Pacific opened to a 4-1 lead and never looked back. Kaeli Hanson gave FPU an early 1-0 lead, sneaking a shot inside the left post nearly two minutes in. Brydie Pye leveled the score with her 20th goal of the year on a skip shot from four meters away. Megan Torre then hit the lob shot over FPU keeper Kelsie Harvey for a 2-1 Tigers lead. Noelle Mann ripped a shot from the outside into the top left corner as Pacific closed the first quarter with a 3-1 lead.
Adair opened the second quarter with a goal from the center as the Tigers scored their fourth straight goal. Mikayla Scheer responded with a 6-on-5 goal for the Sunbirds, before Mann struck again, Aelish Guinn tacked one on and Ellen Tiedemann finished in transition for a 7-2 Pacific lead.
Adair coasted in on Harvey and finished with the nutmeg for an 8-2 lead in the third, before Samantha Clark scored her second goal of the season to cut Pacific's lead to five. Emily Knowles snuck a shot inside the near post to bring the Sunbirds within 8-4 with 4:24 left in the third but Mann put home a rebound off an attempt by Pye to cap her second career hat-trick for a 9-4 Tigers' lead.
Karolina Hlavata stretched the Tigers lead to 10-4, and Tiedemann scored on the doorstep. Crystal Villanueva added her second goal of the season after a 6-on-5 had expired, and Guinn tacked on her second of the game for a 13-4 lead. Fresno Pacific picked up a marker, and with 74 seconds left, Tiedemann completed the hat-trick to complete the scoring.
Kelsie Harvey made eight saves in three quarters in goal for the Sunbirds, while Courtney Hall finished up with four saves in the fourth quarter. Fresno Pacific falls to 7-23 on the year and will face Santa Clara in the consolation semi on Friday at noon.
