LOS ANGELES – Against two higher ranked opponents, LMU women's water polo showed they can play with anyone. The No. T-16 Lions opened the day with a narrow 13-10 loss to No. T-11 Princeton before taking No. 4 UCLA to the limits in a 15-11 game.
GAME 1: #11 Princeton 13, #16 LMU 10
The Lions had a quick first quarter and took a 3-0 lead over the Tigers with two goals from
Mollie Williams and one from
Marialena Seletopoulou. Princeton got on the board with a minute on the clock, to make it 3-1.
Williams extended the lead with her third goal of the game early in the second quarter. Princeton cut the game two 4-2 with 2:10 to play before
Kelsey Snelgar increased the LMU back to three goals on the ensuing possession. The Tigers scored on their next trip down the pool.
Yanah Gerber made it a 6-3 game with 21 seconds remaining before Princeton scored as time expired to make it a two-goal difference at the half.
Seletopoulou scored all three of LMU's third quarter goals, but Princeton was able to chip one off the difference and made it a 9-8 game heading into the final eight minutes.
After Seletopoulou converted a penalty with 6:25 remaining in the game, the Lions offense could not find the back of the cage again as Princeton closed the game with four unanswered goals to take the game.
Madison Davis made six saves in the cage for LMU.
GAME 2: #4 UCLA 15, #16 LMU 11
Ruth Arino Ruiz put the Lions ahead on the fourth-ranked Bruins in the opening minute of play. UCLA then rattled off the next four goals to take a 4-1 lead after one.
Yanah Gerber helped the Lions convert a powerplay goal in the opening minute of the second to put an end to UCLA's run. After the Bruins responded with a goal of their own,
Mollie Williams and
Isabella Barajas went back-to-back to make it a 5-4 game with 4:48 on the clock. The Bruins took advantage of the extra player and scored to push ahead 6-4 with 2:22 remaining in the half. Seletopoulou brought the Lions within one goal just before halftime with her powerplay goal with 1:15 remaining in the half.
After UCLA scored out of the gate to open the third,
Mollie Williams and Seletopoulou each provided goals of their own to tie score at 7-all with 4:49 showing on the clock. The Bruins closed out the quarter with the next three goals.
The Lions scored a minute into the final period to make it a 10-8 game as
Alexandra Akritidou beat the keeper. UCLA extended their lead to four goals before Seletopouloou and Gerber scored consecutive goals to bring it back down to 12-10 with 3:44 remaining. The Bruins scored the next three goals before
Mollie Williams beat the buzzer to end the game.
Madison Davis made five saves for the Lions.
UP NEXT:
LMU's March schedule will come to a close with three final home games next weekend. The Lions will play CBU on Friday afternoon in a GCC game, before welcoming Westcliff on Saturday and UC San Diego on Sunday to Burns Aquatics Center for non-conference matchups.
