Women's Water Polo | 3/30/2017 11:19:00 PM
IRVINE/LONG BEACH, CA – Hartwick water polo split a pair of games on Thursday with a 12-4 win over Concordia University and a narrow 9-8 loss to #16 Long Beach State.
In the opener for the Hawks,
Zsofia Polak (Dunaujvaros, Hungary / Rudas HS) registered five goals to pace the squad in the 12-4 win over the Eagles. Seven other players tallied in the victory.
Tori Wilson (Kitchener, ONT / Grand River Collegiate Institute),
Maryanna Antoniou (Glyfada, Greece / Second General HS of Glyfada),
Nikolina Mihajlovik (Mississauga, ONT / Silverthorn Collegiate Inst.),
Charlotte Cottle (Blakehurst, Australia / Presbyterian Ladies College),
L.J. Edwards (Encinitas, CA / Cathedral Catholic HS),
Gina Grauer (West Lawn, PA / Wilson HS), and
Hayley Hill (Fort Lauderdale, FL / Fort Lauderdale HS) also found the net for Hawks.
Katie McKenty (Auckland, New Zealand / Takapuna Grammar School) and
Madison Germuska (Encinitas, CA / La Costa Canyon HS) each recorded a pair of assists.
Emma Aleksandrovic (Belgrade, Serbia / Medicine School Zvezdara) made six saves in goal. She also registered two assists and two steals.
Against the 49ers, Mihajlovik opened the scoring for the Hawks with Polak assisting. Long Beach tied the score but Kotanchyan pushed the Hawks in front at the 5:02 mark. Hartwick would out-shoot the 49ers 4-2 over the rest of the quarter but none found the net and the Hawks took the 2-1 advantage into the second period.
Wilson scored from Polak to extend the margin to two, 3-1, at the 5:36 mark of the second. Long Beach pulled within one on a tally with 57 seconds remaining in the period but the Hawks hit halftime up 3-2.
Hartwick drew a penalty shot 35 seconds into the second half and Wilson converted to make the score 4-2. Long Beach quickly answered with three scores 60 seconds apart to take the lead, 5-4. Polak tallied on a power-play at the 2:31 mark to even the score at 5-all, but the 49ers retook the advantage at 1:42. Edwards fired home from McKenty with three ticks remaining and the two teams entered the final quarter tied at 6-6.
In the fourth, each team had a power-play in the opening two minutes but only the 49ers were able to cash in for a 7-6 edge. Kotanchyan tied the score for the fourth time in the game with 3:30 left in the contest. Long Beach responded with a pair of goals 44 seconds apart to move ahead, 9-7, with 1:35 to play. Kotanchyan cut the deficit to one with her third goal with seven seconds showing on the clock but the Hawks ran out of clock in the 9-8 loss.
Josette Santos (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison HS) would make eight saves in the game. Eirini Patra made 12 saves for the 49ers, including a pair of stops on Hartwick penalty shots.
Hartwick (14-7) plays at #18 UC San Diego tomorrow at 6 p.m. (PST).
