Feb. 18, 2006
Santa Cruz, Calif. - The 20th-ranked Santa Clara women's water polo team got things off to a great start on the first day of the UC Santa Cruz Slugfest Tournament, dominating UC Santa Cruz and Cal State Bernardino by outscoring them both with combined score of 26-9. Lindsey Bacolini spearheaded the Bronco attack with five goals in both games, while Kristina Barnes stabilized the cage with her 13 total blocks.
Against the Banana Slugs, Asher and Simpkins combined for five goals to lead the Bronco assault on the way to a 13-2 victory. In addition, Brianna Anderson, Lindsay Bacolini, Andrea Evans, Allie Lamb, Amy Lamb, Claire Linney, Elizabeth Perry, and Kaylie Pezzuto each added a goal of her own. In the cage, Kristin Barnes blocked four shots in the first half, while Randahl Capurro took over in the second half and stopped three attacks.
"I don't think we started off as strong as we could have, but we built momentum throughout the game," said head coach Keith Wilbur. "We didn't score as much on our counterattack, but our half-court offense really came through for us."
In the early evening match against the Coyotes, the Broncos opened up a large lead at half time and hung on for the 13-7 win. Bacolini paced the team with her four goals in the match, while Perry found the back of the net three times. The Lamb twins combined for two goals of their own, while Kendra Betke, Anderson, Evans, and Linney chipped in a goal. Katie Radvanyi added two assists and drew two kickouts, while Anderson stole the ball three times for Santa Clara. Barnes got the starting nod at goalie and notched nine blocks in all while adding two steals to her credit.
"The team came out fired up to play Cal State Bernardino and we've always had good games with them in the past," said Wilbur. "We were up 7-1 at the half and held up the rest of the way. We executed counterattack really well and played really good defense."
Santa Clara improves its record to 6-4 on the year and returns to action for two more matches at the Slugfest Tournament. First up will be Colorado State at 8:30 a.m., followed by Sonoma State at 1:30 p.m.
