IRVINE, Calif. - On Thursday the CUI women's water polo team had a big doubleheader on deck at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center. To kick the day, the Golden Eagles opened Golden Coast Conference play in a morning matchup against Santa Clara.
In the first quarter both squads remained even but two late goals in the second period of action by
Kim Reidel and
Andie Perreira would give CUI a 6-4 at halftime. The Broncos' offense would come alive to open up the third quarter putting up three goals on the board as they tried to spoil Concordia's Home-Opener. Though
Madison Ravelo and
Emily Tucker would respond and halt the momentum with 3 goals of their own including a buzzer beater by Tucker to preserve the two goal lead.
Santa Clara would stay resilient but two goals down the stretch by Reidel and Ravelo iced the game for the Golden Eagles and give them the 11-8 victory. The Golden Eagles had four players with multiple goals while
Allie Gaetano,
Allyson Corbett, and
Tamsyn Evezard also got goals of their own.
The evening game featured Concordia hosting McKendree University under the lights. Before the action kicked off, CUI honored the careers of
Whitney Lee,
Nicole Tormey,
Tatiana Cava,
Janie Hobbs, Reidel, Tucker, and Ravelo.
In the opening minutes of action, Concordia would get off to a rough start allowing three straight goals before Gaetano would get a goal back for the home team. Though second quarter saw CUI get back in business as
Madison Ravelo and Reidel combined for three straight goals of their own to regain the lead. The Bearcats were able to respond as time expired making the game deadlocked at four goals a piece heading in to halftime.
As the game picked back up, Gaetano would once again score as Mckendree looked to steal Senior Night success from the Golden Eagles. Thankfully Evezrad would provide three goals in the third quarter along with an additional goals from Tomey to give CUI's lead some insurance. One again in the final 8 minutes in the contest, Evezrad and Tomey would each score again. Meanwhile, Cava would finish the game with ten saves to put the game out of reach for the Bearcats.
With a final score of 11-7, the Golden Eagels move to 8-7 (GCC 1-0) in the Casey Greenawalt era and are already one win away from tying their most wins in a season since joining the NCAA.
CUI will be back in action on Friday March 3rd at The Pomona Convergence Tournament
For the full Concordia women's water polo schedule
CLICK HERE
