March 30, 2003
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Senior Erin Lezak scored the game-winning goal with 18 seconds remaining as the 11th-ranked UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team defeated No. 15 UC Irvine 6-5 on Sunday at Campus Pool.
With their dramatic victory the Gauchos improved to 14-9 on the season and 2-4 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation ply, while the Anteaters fell to 14-15, 1-6.
UCI was the aggressor early on, scoring three unanswered goals over the first and early second period. Less than a minute after freshman Adelaide Perram made the score 3-0, UCSB finally got its offense in gear as senior Teresa Gorbett banked a shot off the left post at the 5:09 mark. Later in the second period Gorbett tallied her team-leading 37th goal of the season to pull Santa Barbara within 3-2 heading into the intermission. Meanwhile on the other end of the pool, Gaucho junior goalkeeper Kristen McGlennon was busy thwarting the Irvine attack, recording nine of her 10 total saves before halftime.
UCSB's carried its momentum into the third quarter, building a 5-3 advantage as sophomore Katy Kunkel scored a pair of goals and freshman Alaina Whitaker found the back of the net once. Junior Melissa Fernandez then ended a nearly two-quarter-long Anteater offensive drought by scoring with 1:00 to play in the third frame.
With her second goal of the afternoon, UCI junior Erica Horman knotted things at 5-5 at the 5:56 mark of the fourth quarter. The score would remain deadlocked until under a minute to play, when Santa Barbara got a defensive stop and head coach Danielle Altman immediately called timeout. The home team worked the shot clock under 10 seconds, at which point freshman Jen D'Anna found Lezak camping out in front of the cage. The Irvine, Calif., native immediately flipped Danna's pass past Anteater goalie Sunceray Chamblee for her 33rd goal of the season.
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The Gauchos, winners of seven of their past eight contests, return to action on Friday, April 4 at Cal. The MPSF showdown in Berkeley is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m.
Scoring Summary Team 1 2 3 4 Final UC Irvine 2 1 1 1 5 UC Santa Barbara 0 2 3 1 6UCI Goals: Horman 2, Volcan, Perram, Fernandez UCSB Goals: Gorbett 2, Kunkel 2, Whitaker, Lezak Goalie Saves: Chamblee (UCI) 5, McGlennon (UCSB) 10
