Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 IRVINE, Calif. — Early in the morning, Fresno Pacific women's water polo edged out McKendree University in a close contest, securing an 8-7 victory at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center. The Lady 'Birds went on to defeat Gannon for the fifth place title at the WWPA Championships.
GAME 1 | FPU 8, McK 7
Fresno Pacific began the match with a strong offensive display, as
Frances Benson scored at 5:40, followed by an exclusion goal from
Dakota Lambert at 5:05, establishing a 2-0 lead.
Maggie Cook, assisted by
Sofia DeRollo, extended the lead to 3-0 at 2:44. McKendree responded late in the first period with a penalty goal at 1:05, closing the period at 3-1. In the second period,
Regan Azevedo scored, assisted by Lambert, but McKendree answered with two more goals, narrowing the gap to 5-3.
The third period saw McKendree tie the game at 5-5. A Bearcat goal in the fourth quarter gave McKendree a brief lead, but Fresno Pacific regained the advantage with consecutive goals from Benson and Lambert, sealing an 8-7 victory. The Sunbirds converted three power-play opportunities, while McKendree capitalized on two penalty shots.
GAME 2 | FPU 10, GU 5
In the final minute of the first period, Azevedo and
Davin Collazo fired shots into the back of the net to make it a one-point game. The Sunbirds overtook Gannon's initial 3-2 lead thanks to Lambert's back-to-back goals.
Emma Cook wasted no time to score the next big goal, sending it past the keeper at short-range. A last second shot by the Knights hit the crossbar, protecting the 'Birds 5-4 lead.
Coming out of the half, Lambert beat Gannon's goalkeeper on a penalty for her third of the day, boosting the Sunbirds ahead 6-4. Azevedo made her return with two additional dynamic shots, assisted by Emma and Benson, to push them ahead 8-5. In the final period,
Sierra Coyne dented the twine on the power play goal, then assisted Emma in her goal at 6:13, securing the 10-5 advantage.
"Our team did an amazing job bringing that high energy to all eight quarters today," interim head coach Jonathan Miller said. "A team can only go as far as their leadership takes them and our five seniors really stepped up this weekend!"
The Sunbirds won the round robin consolation bracket, securing fifth place at the WWPA Championships! The Lady 'Birds closed out the season 9-19 overall and 2-6 in WWPA play. The 'Birds played in one final exhibition match against UC Merced on Sunday morning. As an exhibition, stats from that game will not count, but Fresno Pacific defeated UC Merced 9-8 to wrap up the tournament. FPU's Azevedo was named Second Team All-Tournament after her phenomenal performance at the conference championships!
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