FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 8 Fresno State water polo team defeated Azusa Pacific 18-6 on Senior Day, moving to 11-7 overall and 5-1 in Golden Coast Conference play.
Senior Abbey Simshauser led the Bulldogs with five goals on Saturday, tying her season-high. Sidney Strickland had a career-high four goals. Hailey Andress, Brooke Ochoa and Ashley Williams had two apiece, and Ella Simone, Caitlyn Mossman and Kira Anderson each scored one.
WIth two goals today, Ochoa surpassed the 200 career goal mark. She becomes just the eighth active player in Division I women's water polo, and the first Bulldog player, with 200 career goals. She has 201, and counting.
In the cage, Ida Tully-Giles got the start and saw four saves and two steals in 21:18 minutes of play. Senior Abigayle Armstrong came in, in relief, in the third quarter and grabbed one save and one steal. Islay Martin-Hill closed out the game's final 52 seconds with one save.
The Bulldogs honored seniors Armstrong, Ochoa, Simshauser, Simone and Elisa Grim in a senior ceremony prior to the game.
How it Happened
The Bulldogs got out to an early 3-0 lead after Williams scored on the opening possession, just 14 seconds in. She took advantage of an ensuing powerplay opportunity and Simshauser netted the third goal of the game to put the 'Dogs up 3-0 with a little over five minutes remaining in the first quarter. APU got on the board for the first time with 4:49 left in the opening quarter, but the 'Dogs closed the quarter with two unanswered to hold a 5-1 lead at the end of the first.
Tully-Giles denied a scoring attempt on a 6-on-5 advantage for APU, and Simshauser scored on the Bulldogs following possession for the first goal of the second quarter. APU got one across on a penalty goal. Andress scored her first of the game with 4:56 remaining to put the 'Dogs up 7-2. Ochoa had the chance at a penalty goal, but the ball dinged the post. She got her own rebound and was able to deposit the goal for the 200th of her career. That goal gave Fresno State an 8-2 lead at halftime.
The 'Dogs opened up the third with three unanswered, two by Simshauser and an additional score from Anderson. With 2:42 left in the quarter, APU ended its drought. The teams traded goals with Ochoa, Mossman and Stickland adding goals for the 'Dogs to push Fresno State to a 14-4 lead at the end of the third.
Heading into the final quarter, Strickland attacked on the first possession to extend the lead to 11 at 15-4. Simone got her Senior Day goal across and Strickland scored the final two goals for the Bulldogs as the final buzzer rang.
Up Next
Fresno State travels to Pacific on Friday, April 18 for a 7 p.m. PT contest to wrap up the regular season. From there, Golden Coast Conference seedings will be determined for the conference tournament on April 25-27 at LMU.