IRVINE, Calif. – Friday's water polo match between Concordia University Irvine and Santa Clara was a battle of defensive teams. Goals were hard to come by and both goalies combined for 18 saves.

CUI senior goalie Ariana Olmos racked up a game-high dozen stops between the pipes against the Broncos and helped set the tone in the first quarter.

Madison Ravelo put the Eagles on the scoreboard first when she caught a pass from Emily Lawless and floated a shot over the visiting keeper.

After the Broncos scored the next three goals, the Eagles turned to Dailynn Santoro for a spark.  The sophomore from Riverside, Calif. cashed in twice in the second quarter to keep CUI within 6-3 at halftime.

After an exclusion was called on one of the Broncos midway through the period, Santoro found the back of the net.  She added another goal on a penalty shot with less than 30 seconds remaining before intermission.

Both teams clamped down on defense in the second half, but it was Santa Clara that was able to sneak in more goals. Lawless beat the keeper with a shot from downtown to trim the deficit, but ultimately the Green and Gold were saddled with a 9-4 loss.

"We had expectations to really dominate given our really good game against Brown on Wednesday," said Lawless, "so we came out on intense and I think the other team brought it just as much if not more. They outplayed us on defense and really shut our offense down and they overall had a great game today. I can't wait to play them again in conference."

The Eagles received a boost from fans wearing yellow and gold who were showing their support on Friday during the team's "Code Yellow" match sponsored by The Habit Burger Grill.  As a new promotion this year, CUI athletics is partnering with The Habit Burger Grill to encourage students, faculty, staff and alumni to make it out to at least one game or competition for every CUI sport this school year.

Next up for the Eagles is a home date with Azusa Pacific on Friday, Apr. 5 starting at 1:30 p.m. at Woollett Aquatics Center.

For the full CUI women's water polo schedule, click here.