FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 9 Fresno State water polo team defeated No. 20 Pacific 10-5 on Friday afternoon at the Fresno State Aquatics Center. The Bulldogs improve to 17-7 overall and 5-1 in Golden Coast Conference play.
The Bulldogs were led by Elisa Grim and Abbey Simshauser with three goals apiece. Ashley Williams netted two. Cynthia Rosa and Kaitlin Howarth tacked on one goal each in the win. Hailey Andress spread the offense out, tallying a team-high three assists.
Defensively, Paula Nieto Jasny played a majority of the minutes with nine saves and three steals. Brooke Ochoa had six drawn exclusions.
How it Happened
The Bulldogs got on the board first with a 6-on-5 advantage goal scored by Howarth at the 6:50 mark. Ochoa drew a penalty foul that set up Simshauser for the converted shot that put the Bulldogs up 2-0 at the 6:27 mark.
UOP keeper made five big saves, keeping the Bulldogs off the board for the rest of the opening quarter. The Tigers scored their first goal of the game at the 1:27 mark to make it a one-goal game at the end of the first.
Grim scored the first goal of the second quarter at the 5:37 mark, extending the Bulldog lead to 3-1. Pacific scored two in a row to tie the game at three with 2:06 left before the halftime buzzer. Grim scored her second with just over a minute left to put Fresno State ahead by one, and Nieto Jasny came up with a big save to keep the score in favor of the 'Dogs. Megan Cranley hit Williams for the score with 21 seconds remaining in the half.
Fresno State led 5-3 at halftime.
Pacific worked for a Bulldog exclusion, and called a timeout early in the third to recollect. Andress read the offense and grabbed the steal that would set up an eventual Bulldog goal on the following possession as Ochoa found Grim ahead for the score. UOP scored the next goal to cut the deficit to two, 6-4.
Simshauser took advantage of a powerplay opportunity, scoring off the assist from Ochoa to put the Bulldogs ahead 7-4 at the end of the third quarter.
The Bulldogs outscored Pacific 3-1 in the final period. Not long into the fourth, the Bulldogs capitalized on another 6-on-5 opportunity as Andress connected with Williams at the 7:32 mark. Rosa scored her lone goal of the game on the assist from Ochoa, extending the Bulldog lead to five, 9-4.
With Ida Tully-Giles coming in relief of Nieto Jasny, Pacific scored on a powerplay opportunity of their own to cut the lead to four. The Bulldogs kept firing, but the Tiger keeper came up with three big saves before one could hit for the 'Dogs. Andress grabbed the steal on the defensive side and lobbed ahead to Simshauser who flexed it in the cage with 27 seconds remaining. The Tigers took one last shot attempt at the buzzer, but Tully-Giles knocked it down.
Notable
The Bulldogs improve to 9-1 at home.
Fresno State improves to 15-0 when scoring 10 or more goals.
The Bulldogs improve to 15-2 when allowing nine or fewer goals.
Hailey Andress had a season-high three assists
Brooke Ochoa had a career-high six drawn exclusions.
Elisa Grim tied her career-high with three goals.
Up Next
Fresno State will host Santa Clara tomorrow at 1 p.m. for Senior Day at the Aquatics Center. Admission is free.
The Bulldogs will honor five seniors in Paula Nieto Jasny, Kelly Villanueva, Cynthia Rosa, Kaitlin Howarth and Robyn Greenslade.
The game will have live stats available on The Fosh, and a stream live on the Mountain West Network.