UC Santa Barbara 11, Sonoma State 7

HONOLULU, Hawai'i – The Sonoma State women's water polo team made the trip to the islands of Hawaii to compete in the Hawaii Invitational this weekend, and started with a match against UC Santa Barbara.  The Seawolves kept it close against the Gauchos, but would suffer the 11-7 loss on day one of the invite.  The loss moves Sonoma State to a 10-14 record overall.
 
Both teams came out firing in the first quarter, as Alexa May for SSU and Kacey Creek for UCSB scored twice in the opening quarter along with Adrienne Bisharat and Lauren Martin netting a goal each to even the score at 3-3 after the first eight minutes.  Santa Barbara outscored Sonoma State 4-1 in the second quarter, including two scores from Samantha Murphy to take a 7-4 lead into halftime.
 
Freshman Noelle Herrera recorded the two goals for SSU in the third quarter, however, the Gauchos netted three goals to extend the lead to four at a score of 10-6 heading into the final frame.   Colette Reid scored once in the fourth quarter to bring the Seawolves to within three goals, but Bryn Hudson answered for UCSB with 1:30 remaining to close out the game and take the 11-7 victory.
 
In addition to May's and Herrera's two goal day, Bisharat, Del Carlo, and Reid each contributed one score in the loss.  Goaltender Ariel Lockshaw tallied seven saves.
 
For the Gauchos, Murphy, Creek, Jessie Porter, Lauren Martin, and Hudson each had two goals in the win, while Holly Smith tacked on one goal.  Ruth Milne recorded three saves in the cage for UCSB.
 
Sunday's match against UC San Diego has been canceled, due to the Easter holiday, therefore Sonoma State will return to the mainland and compete in the Santa Clara Invitational next weekend (Apr. 6-7).