BOX SCORE
FRESNO, Calif. – The Loyola Marymount women's water polo is returning to the Golden Coast Conference Championships Title Game for the second consecutive season after a dominating third quarter performance propelled the Lions to victory on Saturday. LMU topped the two-seed San Diego State, 10-5, avenging an earlier loss to the Aztecs this season.
Mollie Williams opened the scoring in the first quarter, and that goal stood until SDSU evened it a 1-1 at the 1:14 mark of the opening eight minutes.
The Aztecs took their opnly lead of the game with a goal early in the second quarter. The Lions closed it out with two straight to take a 3-2 halftime lead.
Morgan Molloy tied the score and Williams scored her second of a team-high four goals to give LMU the lead.
The Lions then opened the third quarter with five consecutive goals to put the game out of reach.
Hana Vilanova scored the first two of the second half, with then next three scored by Williams, then Molloy, and Williams again. San Diego State got one back, by Vilanova scored her third of the period to make it a 9-3 game after three periods.
The Aztecs scored twice in the fourth, sandwiched around a
Katie Hungerford goal, to make it a 10-5 final.
Sky Flores played all 32 minutes as LMU's goalkeeper, recording eight saves in the win.
LMU now faces top-seeded Pacific in a rematch of last year's title game. Sunday's championship game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. from Fresno State Aquatics Center.
