April 25, 2003

STANFORD, Calif. - The 11th-ranked UC Santa Barbara women's water polo team has assured itself of no lower than an eighth-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship by splitting its two matches Friday at the Avery Aquatics Center.

The Gauchos, seeded ninth in the tourney upset No. 8 San Jose State 3-2 in the tourney opener Friday morning before falling to host school Stanford - the top seed - 10-1. UCSB will take a 16-14 overall record into its showdown with No. 5 California on Saturday at 2:15 p.m.

Senior Teresa Gorbett provided the heroics vs. SJSU (15-15), scoring all three Santa Barbara goals. Following a scoreless first half, the Santa Ana, Calif., native drew first blood by rattling the back of the cage in the third period in a 6-on-5 situation. Gorbett, who ranks third in UCSB history with 115 career scores, notched another man-up goal early in the final frame before the Spartans' Jennifer Levin responded with two quick scores to even things up.

Immediately after the second San Jose strike, Gorbett fought loose from her defender to notch the eventual game-winner. San Jose State, which defeated Santa Barbara at home earlier this season, had a chance to tie with under 33 seconds remaining, but turned the ball over to end the scoring chance.

In addition to Gorbett's hat trick, freshman goalkeeper Christy Medigovich was solid between the pipes, making six saves.

In their second game of the day, the Gauchos couldn't pull off an even more dramatic upset against the thrd-ranked Cardinal, who improved to 18-2 overall. Brenda Villa led the charge for Stanford with four goals, while UCSB's only score came courtesy of sophomore Katy Kunkel during a six-on-five situation in the first quarter.

San Jose State		0	0	0	2	--	2
UC Santa Barbara		0	0	1	2	--	3

SJSU Goals: Levin 2
UCSB Goals: Gorbett 3
Goalie Saves: Lipman (SJSU) 6; Medigovich (UCSB) 6
6-on-5: San Jose State 2-4; UC Santa Barbara 2-7

UC Santa Barbara		1	0	0	0	--	1
Stanford			4	4	2	0	--	10

Stanford Goals: Brenda Villa 4, Hannah Luber 3, Elizabeth Derse 1, Julie Gardner 1, Kelty Luber 1
UCSB Goals: Katy Kunkel 1
Goalie Saves: Jackie Frank (Stanford) 4, Amanda Matuk (Stanford) 2; Christy Medigovich (UCSB) 1, Kristin McGlennon (UCSB) 2