March 22, 2008

REDLANDS, Calif. - Colorado State punctuated a difficult spring-break road trip on a positive note Saturday, registering a pair of water polo wins at the Thompson Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Redlands.

CSU (8-20) posted wins over host Redlands, 12-8, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 9-7. The sweep marks the second time this year the Rams have won consecutive games. They also strung together victories over UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 10 and Cal State East Bay on March 1.

In its first game, the Rams knocked off host Redlands, 12-8, on the strength of hat tricks from freshman sensations Ali Pavlik and Andrea Victoria. According to Head Coach John Mattos, many of those scoring opportunities were the result of strong defense, led by senior Emily McCullough and junior Emily Chambers.

"When their defense is on, they create opportunities for our offense," Mattos said. "That's really important to the flow of the game. They had a lot of steals and those steals really helped our counter attack and fast break. Most of our quick goals were set up by our ability to play great defense."

Chambers, who hails from San Clemente, Calif., also had two goals of her own in helping to turn away the Bulldogs. Annie Quinn and Shannon Kohl each added a pair of goals, while goalie Krystyna McCright denied 14 Redlands shots.

Feeling the effects of the ninth day of a nine-day road trip through Southern California, the Rams opted to mix up their lineup against CMS in Saturday's finale. CSU controlled the game from the start and held off the Athenas, 9-7.

"Everybody played pretty consistently in both games today," Mattos said. "We were obviously very tired. It was an early morning, but that's no excuse."

Pavlik added another hat trick against CMS, while McCullough and freshman Orsi Nadasdy each had two goals. Sarah Lorge and Kohl also netted scores for the Rams.

CSU finishes its Southern California road trip 3-7, not exactly what the Rams had envisioned when they departed for San Diego at the end of last week. Now, they'll take nearly two weeks off from competition, hoping to catch their breath before an opportunity to make up ground in the Western Water Polo Association standings. They'll see many of those conference foes at the UC Davis Shootout tournament April 5-6, after opening another California road trip against Davis on April 4.

"I think our Achilles' heel has been our inability to put the ball in the net," Mattos said. "We're not playing at the level we need to be playing at. We really need to step it up in the next couple weeks before we get to Davis. Then, we'll see what type of team we have."

Colorado State 12, Redlands 8

CSU goals: Ali Pavlik 3, Andrea Victoria 3, Annie Quinn 2, Emily Chambers 2, Shannon Kohl 2. Saves: Krystyna McCright 14. UR goals: Sam Greenawalt 6, Jen Caron 2. Saves: Lauren Ellsworth 10

Colorado State 9, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 7

CSU goals: Ali Pavlik 3, Emily McCullough 2, Orsi Nadasdy 2, Sarah Lorge 1, Shannon Kohl 1. Saves: Kayley Provow 15. CMS goals: Elizabeth Martin 3, Kristyn Ross 1, Abigayle Lin 1, Kristin Orkney 1, Sarah Assaad 1. Saves: Abigail Woodruff 4, Brianna Krumweide 5.