No. 1 Seed UC Irvine 18, No. 8 Seed Cal State Fullerton 5

 Box Score | UC Irvine Presser | Cal State Fullerton Presser | Championship Central | Interactive Bracket
Recap courtesy of ucirvinesports.com & fullertontitans.com
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (April 28, 2023) -- No. 1 seed UC Irvine (18-6) soared past the No. 8 seed Cal State Fullerton, 18-5, in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Big West Women's Water Polo Championships on Friday morning. 

Cal State Fullerton ends its inagural season with an 11-20 overall record. The Anteaters advance to play No. 4 seed UC San Diego. 

The Anteaters set a new Big West record for goals in a tournament with 18. Hawaii previously set the record of 16 in their victory over Long Beach State in the 2021 semifinals.

UCI tied the Big West tournament's margin of victory record of 13 which was set by the 'Eaters in their 2018 first round win over CSUN, 14-1.

The Anteaters grabbed a 4-0 lead over the Titans a period and a half into the game before Delaney Wilder took away their chances of getting shut out with a shot from the outside.

The Titans offense grew silent after the break as UCI held them to Wilder's solo goal and improved their lead, 13-1, heading into the final period of play.

Wilder bounced a ball through the arms of an Anteater to find the back of the net for a power play goal. Before this attempt, the Titans were 0-6 on the power play.

Mia Solorzano came alive in the fourth period, banking three goals for the Titans. Solorzano's first goal came shortly after an exclusion against UCI with a shot up the middle.

Solorzano flexed her range with a powerful shot from a distance to grab her second goal with 1:42 left on the clock before another long-range shot created a perfect arc off of her palm, finding the back of the net for the last Titans goal of the game.
 

No. 4 Seed UC San Diego 9, No. 5 Seed UC Davis 8

Box Score | UC San Diego Presser | Championship Central | Interactive Bracket
Recap courtesy of ucsdtritons.com & ucdavisaggies.com
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (April 28, 2023) -- UC San Diego freshman Maja Layden scored with three seconds left in the game to propel the Tritons past UC Davis, 9-8, Friday in a Big West Women's Water Polo Championship quarterfinal.

With their fifth-straight win, the fourth-seeded Tritons advance and will take on top-seeded UC Irvine in a semifinal. 

UC San Diego moved to 14-16 overall. UC Davis, the tourney's fifth seed, ends its season at 15-14.

Tied 8-8, the Tritons decided to pull starting goalkeeper Lexi Stahl and replace her with Layden as an extra attacker. Layden collected a pass from fellow freshman Sofia Munatones and buried a shot into the top-left corner of the cage. The shot, which came from four meters out, sailed by a defender's extended arm and beat the UCD goalie to her right. Neither team led by more than one goal during the tightly-contested game. There were eight tie scores.

After six straight scoreless minutes to start the game, UC San Diego finally found the breakthrough at the 2:09 mark in the first quarter. Hailey Williams replied for the Aggies, scoring with 40 seconds left in the period to even the score at 1-1.
 
UC Davis took the lead early in the second quarter when Wijnbelt scored her first goal of the contest. The Tritons took the momentum into the break, however, two quick goals allowed UC San Diego to post a 3-2 lead.
 
Wijnbelt and Clague answered with back-to-back goals to turn the score in their favor. A Triton goal leveled the score once again, but the Aggies would turn to their leading goal-scorer, Wijnbelt, to restore the one-goal advantage. UC San Diego once again closed the quarter with a huge momentum-swinging play when Caroline Christl scored at the buzzer to make the score 5-5 going into the last eight minutes.

The Tritons promptly took the lead in the last period before Wijnbelt and Alyssa Lengtat scored in succession to put the Aggies out in front. Another surge from UC San Diego, using a five-meter shot and a power-play goal, allowed the Tritons to regain the advantage. Head Coach Kandace Waldthaler called a timeout to draw up a play for Clague with 29 seconds remaining, and it worked to perfection, as the center defender would net the tying goal.
 
On UC San Diego's final possession, Layden found the back of the cage with just three seconds left on the clock, sending UC Davis out of the Big West Conference Tournament with the game-winning goal.
 

No. 2 Seed Hawai'i 18, No. 7 Seed CSUN 7

Box Score | Hawai'i Presser | CSUN Presser | Championship Central | Interactive Bracket 
Recap courtesy of hawaiiathletics.com & gomatadors.com
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (April 28, 2023) --  Hawai'i began the 2023 Big West Women's Water Polo Championship with an 18-7 quarterfinal rout of seventh-seeded CSUN Friday at the UCSB Campus Pool. UH was powered by the duo of Bia Mantellato Dias and Alba Bonamusa Boix who combined for nine goals, seven of which came in the decisive first half. WIth the win the No. 2 seed Rainbow Wahine (20-5) advanced to the tournament semifinals where they will face No. 3 seed Long Beach State Saturday. 

In the process, UH also won its 20th match of the season. It marks the 10th 20-win season in school history and the program's first since 2017.

The match was tight early with the score tied, 3-3, less than a minute left in the first quarter. But UH reeled off four straight goals -- three from Mantellato Dias and another by Bonamusa Boix to take control of the match. The 'Bows built an 11-5 lead at intermission and cruised in the second half with the UH starters sitting out the near entirety of the final quarter. 

In the fourth, Hawai'i put the game away with three early goals, stretching its lead to 16-6. Smeltzer found the back of the net for CSUN with three minutes left to play before the Rainbow Wahine added two more goals to close the match.

Dorottya Telek's 101 goals scored in 2023 is the new single-season benchmark in CSUN team history. Telek broke the previous single-season mark on March 7, set by Whitney Delgado in 2010, when she scored her 81st goal. On the CSUN career goals scored list, Telek is sixth with 178 goals.

No. 3 Seed Long Beach State 10, No. 6 Seed UC Santa Barbara 7

Box Score | Long Beach State Presser | Championship Central | Interactive Bracket
Recap courtesy of longbeachstate.com & ucsbgauchos.com
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (April 28, 2023) -- Long Beach State opened the Big West Championships in exciting fashion as the Beach scored six of their ten goals in the fourth quarter to defeat UC Santa Barbara 10-7.

Rachael Kowalchick, Lara Luka, and Elisa Portillo each had two goals, while Chelsea Oliver stepped up with 12 saves in the victory.

Goals were hard to come by for both teams as each side turned up the defensive pressure in the first quarter.UC Santa Barbara would break the deadlock with 1:11 left in the quarter and would score a second before the buzzer to give them a 2-0 lead after one. The Gauchos would add a third goal in the second quarter, but Anne de Kleer took advantage of a six-on-five opportunity and Elisa Portillo converted a five-meter penalty to keep the Beach in the game, trailing 3-2 at halftime. 

Long Beach State came out firing after the break as Rachael Kowalchick and Martina Cardona would both score within the first minute of play, giving the Beach their first lead of the day. UC Santa Barbara bounced back to score two goals of their own, retaking a one-goal lead headed into the fourth quarter. The Beach opened the fourth quarter completely swinging momentum in their favor, as they scored four straight goals, making the score 8-5.

The Gauchos wouldn't go down without a fight, as they pulled back two goals making it a one-goal game. However, it turned out to be too little too late, as they were forced to pull their goalkeeper which allowed Lara Luka and Amanda Price to score two empty-net goals. The Beach defense stood strong throughout the game as they held UC Santa Barbara to 1-11 on powerplay opportunities. Chelsea Oliver's 12 saves also marked the ninth time this season in which she recorded double-digit saves.