The No. 10 UC Santa Barbara women’s water polo team got back to its winning ways Saturday at the Claremont Convergence, going 2-0 with wins over Azusa Pacific, 15-6 and Pomona-Pitzer, 12-9.
Winners in four of their last five, the Gauchos improved to 15-5 on the season.
POMONA-PITZER: Facing Pomona-Pitzer late in the day, strong games from Mollie Simmons and Sarah Snyder would lead the Gauchos to a 12-9 victory.
Snyder led all players with four goals. She scored back-to-back goals midway through the opening half, the first goal tying the game and the second giving UCSB a 4-3 lead. Late in the third, with UCSB still leading by a single goal, she would score on consecutive possessions for the second time in the game, this time giving the Gauchos a 9-6 lead.
Both teams would go on to match the other with three goals in the final frame, resulting in the eventual 12-9 scoreline. Freshman Amanda Legaspi scored twice in the fourth, while Kate Coski also scored midway through the period.
Simmons recorded a hat trick of her own, opening the scoring with the first two goals from either team in the first quarter. She also scored on UCSB’s final possession of the first half, putting one more away with 29 seconds on the clock to make it 6-4 in favor of the Gauchos.
Also scoring two goals to go along with two assists was senior Sarah Kreiser, who scored once in each half. Goalkeeper Kenzi Snyder racked up six saves, four assists and a pair of steals. Senior Kate Pipkin tallied a pair of assists and three steals.
The win was UCSB’s eighth straight over the Sagehens.
AZUSA PACIFIC: In their first game of the Claremont Convergence, the Gauchos would take down the Cougars 15-6, led by a five-goal performance from Sarah Snyder. Her younger sister, freshman utility Caitlyn Snyder, finished with two goals, two assists and three steals in an all-around effort.
Kate Pipkin and Amanda Legaspi added hat tricks as well. Pipkin also recorded an assist and drew a penalty, while Legaspi finished with two assists.
Sarah Kreiser registered two goals and two assists of her own. In the cage, sophomore goalkeeper Becca Buck was hard to beat, tallying 10 saves and a steal.
The next time the Gauchos take the pool will be the start of Big West play, as UCSB hosts No. 8 UC Irvine next Saturday, March 9. The game is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. at Campus Pool.