Feb. 11, 2012

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 11th-ranked LMU women's water polo team earned a pair of wins in the first day of the 2012 UC San Diego Triton Invitational Saturday, to advance to the tournament's championship bracket, which will be played on Sunday at Canyonview Aquatics Center's Triton Pool.

The Lions opened the day with a 19-3 win over Western Water Polo Association rival Cal State East Bay, and then advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 7-5 win over No. 9 Indiana in the final game of the day.

LMU improves to 4-2 on the season and will face No. 6 Arizona State in the first semifinal at 11:10 a.m. No. 7 UC Irvine will face No. 8 San Diego State in the second semifinal at 12:30 p.m. The losers will play in the third place game at 4:30 p.m., with the championship at 5:50 p.m.

To start the tournament, the Lions led 10-1 at the half and then led 17-1 after Mackenzie Beck scored just over a minute into the fourth quarter to overwhelm Cal State East Bay. Nine different Lions scored in the win, including four goals from junior Erin Manke. Whitney Delgado added three.

In the day's finale, the Lions jumped out in front 3-0 on a pair of goals from Morgan Bonk and another by sophomore Alexandra Honny. After Indiana cut the lead to a pair, Honny scored her second with 41 seconds to play in the half making it 4-1.

Indiana would cut the lead in half right before the break, scoring with nine second on the clock to make it 4-2 heading into the lockerroom.

On the first possession of the half, Bonk scored her third goal of the game to make it 5-2.

The Hoosiers then would tally back-to-back goals to make it a one-goal game, 5-4, with 3:52 left in the third quarter.

Honny would then score her third goal of the game, this time with 1:29 on the clock to regain the two-goal lead, 6-4.

The Lions' defense would then hold strong, and Whitney Delgado would put the lead back to three, 7-4, with 2:43 left in the game. Indiana would finally get on the board in the fourth, scoring with just 1:15 on the clock.