The ninth-ranked UCSD women’s water polo team faced off against UC Santa Barbara last Friday at Canyonview Pool with a chance to move up in the standings with a victory against the seventh-ranked team.
The Tritons did just that, jumping out ahead of the Gauchos, then fending off a furious UCSB rally. UCSD’s Emma Kudritzki scored the game-winning goal with 32.9 seconds left to preserve the 7-6 victory.
In the first quarter, the Tritons, helped by a Courtney Hemmerly goal, quickly took a 2-1 lead over the visiting Gauchos and ended the first half with a 3-2 advantage.
However, the third quarter was when UCSD distanced itself from UCSB, using goals from Kudritzki and Dana Tucker to dominate the Gauchos 3-1 in the quarter en route to a 6-3 lead over the nationally ranked team.
The fourth quarter was a reversal of the third — UCSB aggressively attacked the Triton goal in the final quarter of the game and managed to tie the game at six apiece. But senior team captain Kudritzki took matters into her own hands, and her last-minute goal sealed the victory for UCSD and boosted the Tritons to 4-2 on the season, while the Gauchos fell to 8-5. Kudritzki and Tucker both finished with three goals each to account for six or the Tritons’ seven goals, while Mary Blurnberg led UCSB with two goals.
The Tritons return to action next weekend when they travel north to the UCSB Invitational Feb. 23 and Feb. 24.