FRESNO, Calif. – The #7 LMU Women's Water Polo is returning to the Golden Coast Conference Tournament Final for the third consecutive season with a 12-6 win over #21 Pacific in Saturday's semifinal. The Lions did not get the start they wanted but responded to a 3-0 first quarter deficit with the next eight goals of the half to flip the momentum and allow just three goals over the final 27-plus minutes of play.
 
The Tigers scored the game's first three goals in just over four minutes of action. LMU responded with the next three goals of the first quarter as Sophia DeMattia put the Lions on the board, Emison Styris converted a powerplay goal a minute later, and Carolina Magano tied the game with 39 seconds remaining in the opening period.
 
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Chelsea Isaac gave the Lions their first lead of the game. Magano added her second of the day before Cila David went back-to-back to extend the lead to 7-3. Noa Sasover pushed the streak to eight unanswered goals with her scoring play with 1:06 remaining in the first half. Pacific converted a 6-on-5 coming out of a timeout with 30 seconds on the first half clock to make it an 8-4 game at intermission.
 
Styris scored the first goal of the second half at the 4:28 mark and Anna Tarantino followed with just over two minutes to play in the third to bring the Lions to double-digit scoring. The Tigers added a goal late in the clock to pull back within five, 10-5.
 
Following over four minutes of scoreless play to begin the fourth, Brooke Tora Gil added a final quarter goal. After one more by Pacific, Magano completed her hat trick with a penalty goal with 2:08 to play to finish the scoring for the game.
 
In her first conference tournament game, Madison Searle earned the win with 13 saves and a .684 save percentage in her 32 minutes in the cage.
 
The Lions advance to Sunday's final for a rematch against second-seeded and host Fresno State. This is the third consecutive season that the Lions and Bulldogs will play for the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Championship Game will begin at 1:00 PM from FSU's Fresno State Aquatics Center. The game will air on Overnght and feature live stats on theFOSH. Tickets are still available online at GCCWaterPolo.com.
 
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