The UCSD women’s water polo team bounced back with a bang from four consecutive losses, dominating Cal State San Bernardino on both sides of the pool in a 10-0 rout Feb. 19 at Canyonview Pool.
The shutout was UCSD’s first since 2000. Senior driver Jessica Wong nearly sunk the Coyotes single-handedly, with three goals in the second period to give the Tritons a 5-0 advantage at halftime. UCSD (2-5 overall, 1-2 Western Water Polo Association) went 5-for-7 on man-up opportunities, while converting two counter attacks for goals.
Senior driver Tobi Lyman, junior driver Flynn LaRochelle and sophomore two-meters Sarah Bajorek and Britta Nordstrom each notched a goal for the Tritons. Freshmen also left their mark as utility Lauren Woods, driver Elizabeth Hahn and two-meter Judy Emaus each earned their first collegiate goals, while goaltender Kim Hockett made 11 stops.
“It was a good time to get out and play in the sense that there are teams that are going to give us challenges and teams that we should beat,” UCSD head coach Larry Sanders said. “It’s rare in water polo to get a shutout, so to be able to do that against a conference team was a big thing for us.”
Wong broke open the floodgates after a modest 2-0 first period for UCSD, tallying a hat trick in a little over three-and-a-half minutes before the intermission.
“On our counters, we were working on finding pockets in the pool where we could cross some passes to people and we were getting more shots off,” Sanders said. “We had some fun and got some things done.”
After Bajorek scored at the 3:16 mark of the third quarter, Sanders sent in the reserves to get in some pool time and Woods and Emaus scored a goal apiece.
“It was good getting our nonstarters out because by giving them more experience and running our plays efficiently, we were able to get more depth in our lineup, and we were able to see more opportunities down the pool,” Sanders said.
Hahn capitalized on one of those opportunities in the fourth quarter to earn her goal on a six-on-five advantage with 2:15 left. After noticing that the posts were left unmarked on the last power play, Bajorek swam to one of those open areas and dished a pass to Hahn for the score.
Nordstrom’s goal with 1:45 left put the exclamation point on the double-digit margin of victory.
“Anytime you shut out a conference team, it shows them that if you want to win conference, you’re going to have to go through us,” Sanders said.