April 5, 2003

STOCKTON, Calif. - The 10th-ranked UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team salvaged a split in its two-match road trip to Northern California by defeating Pacific 7-4 Saturday at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.

The victory improves the Gauchos' record to 15-10 overall and 3-5 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. UOP remains winless at home this season and fell to 5-14, 0-7 in the MPSF.

UCSB jumped out to a 3-1 first period lead and maintained its two-goal cushion throughout the contest. A day after seeing her consecutive scoring streak snapped at 10 matches, senior Teresa Gorbett found the back of the cage two times, and now has a team-leading 39 goals.

Two other Gauchos - senior Erin Lezak and sophomore Katy Kunkel - also notched a pair of scores against the Tigers. Lezak moved within two goals of 100 for her career, while Kunkel can now boast 11 scores in the past five matches.

Junior Erin Enriquez made her second consecutive start in goal, and turned away six Pacific shots.

The highlight of the game for UOP came when sophomore Laura Besmer scored the Tigers' second goal on a rebounded shot. Meanwhile junior Jessica Schroeder notched her team-leading 60th goal in the third period.

UCSB returns home for its final non-conference match of the season on Saturday, April 12 against seventh-ranked Loyola Marymount. The opening sprint at Campus Pool is slated for 1:00 p.m.

                             1Q   2Q   3Q   4Q        TOT
#10 UC Santa Barbara         3    2    1    1    -    7
Pacific                      1    2    1    0    -    4

Scoring
UCSB: Teresa Gorbett 2, Erin Lezak 2, Katy Kunkel 2, Annie Kiening
Pacific: Jessica Melcher 2, Laura Besmer, Jessica Schroeder

Saves:
UCSB: 6 (Erin Enriquez 6)
Pacific: 8 (Ross 8)