April 10, 2010
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara women's water polo team won one and lost one during the first day of action at The Bronco Tournament at the Sullivan Aquatic Center, defeating Colorado State, 8-5 but falling to No. 7 Loyola Marymount, 12-6.
Against Colorado State in the morning, Santa Clara opened the scoring when junior Taylor Harkins found the back of the cage from the left side at 7:49. The Rams equalized on the 6-on-5 at 4:06 and the 1-1 score remained through the first quarter.
The Broncos got another quick goal in the second quarter, scoring just 19 seconds in. Senior Meg Zimmerman won a tussle in front of the cage at two meters and flicked the ball in with her back to the net to take a 2-1 lead.
CSU tied it with 2:22 on the clock, taking advantage of another power play situation to keep the game close.
With 38 seconds left in the half, Harkins made sure Santa Clara took a lead into the midway point, converting a no-angle shot from the left that the Rams' goalie Melissa Fisher got a hand on but was unable to keep out.
At 7:21 of the third quarter, senior Jenny Knutson converted a five-meter shot for the Broncos to give the team a two-goal lead. Junior Whitney Allen extended it to 5-2 with a goal at 2:45 in the third, but on the next possession the Rams scored to make it 5-3.
Colorado State pulled to within one after scoring a goal 1:19 into the fourth quarter, but Harkins continued her dominance from the left side, scoring her third of the game with 6:11 left. Zimmerman made it 7-4 with another hard-fought goal from two-meters and Harkins scored her fourth goal from the left side with 1:43 to go to ice the game. The Rams got their final goal with just 54 seconds left to play.
In the afternoon against Loyola Marymount junior Taylor Harkins opened the scoring for the Broncos with a goal on the power play from the one-spot at 5:11. However, the Lions responded with two goals of their own to take the lead.
Sophomore Sarah Safir tied the score at two with 1:28 left in the first quarter, but LMU scored two unanswered goals to take a 4-2 lead. Another 6-on-5 goal by Harkins brought the Broncos within one with 5:32 left in the second.
LMU went on a 3-0 run, two of their goals came off five-meter penalty shots, and they took a 7-3 lead with 7:34 remaining in the third.
Harkins scored her third goal of the match on the power play with 3:46 remaining in the third to cut the Lion's lead to 8-4, and Laura Espinosa scored on a quick sweep shot on the power play with 5:54 remaining in the fourth, but LMU still held a 10-5 lead.
Allison Norris scored a counterattack goal with 1:40 remaining in the game to bring the score to 12-6.
Santa Clara moves to 13-12 on the season. Tomorrow the Broncos will face No. 20 Cal State Bakersfield at 10:30 a.m. and Sonoma State at 4:45 p.m.
