Feb. 12, 2006
La Jolla, CA (Feb. 12) - For the second consecutive season, the Loyola Marymount women's water polo team claimed the UC San Diego Triton Invitational championship, doing it in 2006 with a 7-3 win over UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals and a 9-2 win over Long Beach State in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.
The Lions improve to 4-0 on the year, equaling last season's 4-0 start. Pacing the fifth-ranked Lions was senior Staica Peterson with three goals in the championship win over ninth-ranked Long Beach State while junior Katie Hicks had four goals in the win over 10th-ranked UCSB.
In the semifinal win, the first period went nearly scoreless until Hicks found the net with just 14 seconds remaining. The defensive affair continued as Hicks was the only player to tally a goal, scoring at the 2:09 mark in the second period.
After the 2-0 score at the break, the Lions broke it open with three unanswered in the third frame. Hicks made it 3-0 before freshman Nicole Hughes made it 4-0 with 2:26 remaining and then Lindsey O'Farriell scored her first of the season with just one tick on the clock.
UCSB made it 5-1 to start the fourth before Peterson made it 6-1 with 4:50 remaining. Hicks added her fourth to make it 7-1. The Gauchos scored the last two of the game for the final margin.
The win in the semifinals set-up a championship match with the 49ers. LMU quickly left little doubt as they scored the games first eight goals as goalie Rachel Riddell allowed just two to go by her to lift the Lions to the title.
Rosanna Tomiuk put the Lions up just over a minute into the first frame and Hughes added another two minutes later for the 2-0 lead. The score was 3-0 at the break thanks to Peterson's second period score.
LMU pulled away with four more in the third, getting a pair of tallies from Peterson and single scores from Christine Robinson and Hicks. Tomiuk and Dora Szabolcsi scored in the fourth frame for the Lions nine goals.
The Lions will play in the UC Santa Barbara tournament on Feb. 25-26.
- GO LIONS -
