IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine women's water polo team put the pressure on the No. 14 team in the nation on Wednesday, storming back from a four goal deficit against the Princeton Tigers.
 
In a defensive struggle, the Eagles had a chance to force overtime late but the Tigers held on for a narrow victory by a score of 8-7.
 
The Eagles rallied from an 8-4 deficit to score the final three goals of the contest and shutout Princeton for the entire fourth quarter. The comeback ultimately drew CUI within one goal but the clock ran out before the Green and Gold could net the equalizer.
 
The Eagles called timeout with 15 seconds left in regulation to set up one last play, but the Princeton defense did just enough to disrupt the plan as the buzzer sounded.
 
CUI senior goalie Ariana Olmos was a force between the pipes.  On her 22nd birthday, Olmos racked up ten saves and stoned a couple breakaway attempts by the Tigers to keep the Green and Gold in the game down the stretch.
 
"In that fourth quarter we buckled down defensively and made some big stops," said CUI head coach Dreason Barry. "Our center defenders did a good job keeping their centers four or five meters away from the cage and it was hard for them to get a shot off. It came down to the very end and it was a good comeback. I was proud of the girls and if we play like that in other home games, we're going to come out on top."
 
"The past few games I feel like we've held teams (defensively) until halftime, but this was kind of a turning point where we played better in the fourth quarter," added junior Shannon Graham, who scored a goal right before halftime.  "Our team's progressing and we had that energy to finish the game."
 
Madison Ravelo led the CUI offense with three goals and an assist while Dailynn Santoro added two scores. 
 
"After every quarter, our coach was like, we're still in this game, don't give up," said junior Elena Isogawa, who also had an assist. "We played hard and we really pushed through (adversity). We have conference games coming up so I'm really excited for our next games."
 
Concordia's next contest will be next Wednesday, March 27 at 1:30 p.m. against Brown University at Woollett Aquatics Center.
 
For the full CUI women's water polo schedule, click here.