Feb. 23, 2014
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IRVINE, Calif. -- Senior Alexandra Honny scored six goals, including a pair in the first overtime, to lift LMU women's water polo to a 13-12 win over San Jose State to wrap-up ninth place in the UC Irvine Invitational on Sunday. The Lions finished the final day with a sweep and went 3-1 on the tournament. They improve to 8-4 on the season.
The Lions opened the day with an 8-4 win over No. 16 UC Santa Barbara and then followed that with their second win of the season over the 11th ranked Spartans. LMU opened the tournament with a 6-5 set-back to No. 10 Cal State Northridge and then defeated CSU Bakersfield, 13-5.
"In this tournaments, especially one as loaded with top-ranked programs like this one, it is important when you don't win that opening game to respond in the next three," said HEad Coach Kyle Witt. "We really put the pressure on our team to sin the next three, move past the errors we made in the first game. I thought we responded well in the next three to win that side of the bracket. That was very important for us."
Sophomore goalie Claire Wright was solid for the Lions, making 35 saves while allowing just 5.0 goals per game heading into the overtime contest.
"Claire really stepped up for us all weekend," said Witt. "Her goals against number was really low for the most part and she dominated play."
On offense the Lions had balance throughout the line-up as eight different Lions scored on the day. Ivana Castro had five goals on the day, scoring a pair against the Gauchos. Castro was the only Lion to score in every game on the weekend. Mackenzie Beck also had a big weekend, scoring five goals.
"The positive of this weekend is that we responded well to win those last three games," said Witt. "However, we had the same problems we have had the last couple weeks and we are at the point we have to start changing that if we are to be more successful. We made steps toward that today, but we have to get better."
The Lions will play their first home game of the season when they host UCLA on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 1 pm.
Game 25 - 9th place (1:30 PM)
at Corona del Mar
LMU 13, San Jose State 12 (ot)
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | OT2 | Final |
| #9 LMU | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
| #11 San Jose St. | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
LMU goals: Alexandra Honny (6), Ivana Castro (3), Laura Lopez, Bridgette Alvarez, Kingsley Hill, Mackenzie Beck
SJSU goals: Espar Llaquet (4), Molnar (2), Smith (2), Lekness (2), Seyfert, Henry
Saves: Claire Wright (LMU) - 9; Reardon (SJSU) - 6
Game 12 (8 AM)
at Corona del Mar
LMU 8, UC Santa Barbara 4
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | OT2 | Final |
| #9 LMU | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| #16 UC Santa Barbara | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 4 |
LMU goals: Ivana Castro (2), Mackenzie Beck (2), Bridgette Alvarez, Danielle Johnson, Erin Byrne, Laura Lopez
UCSB goals: Porter, Martin, Shore, Christian
Saves: Claire Wright (LMU) - 12; Browkaw (UCSB) - 6
Game 10 (3:30 pm)
at UC Irvine
LMU 13, CSU Bakersfield 5
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | OT2 | Final |
| CSU Bakersfield | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 5 |
| #9 LMU | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 13 |
CSUB goals: De Leon (3), Aldridge, Shelby
LMU goals: Laura Lopez (3), Kingsley Hill (3), Ivana Castro (2), Danielle Johnson (2), Alexandra Honny, Kiara Cerda, Bridgette Alvarez
Saves: Wahlstrom (CSUB) - 8; Claire Wright (LMU) - 8
Game 2 (9:15 am)
at UC Irvine
CS Northridge 6, LMU 5
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | OT2 | Final |
| #10 CS Northridge | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| #9 LMU | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 5 |
CSUN goals: Young (3), Ferriera, Doll, Nelson
LMU goals: Mackenzie Beck (2), Ivana Castro (2), Erin Byrne
Saves: Davis (CSUN) - 4; Claire Wright (LMU) - 7
