LONG BEACH, Calif. — No. 10-ranked Long Beach State University broke a seven-all tie at the conclusion of the third quarter by outscoring No. 19 Harvard University by a 4-3 count over the game’s final eight minutes as the Beach clipped the Crimson, 11-10, at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center.
Knotted at seven-all through three quarters of action, Harvard pulled ahead as Maya O’Dea converted a man-up opportunity with 5:40 on the fourth quarter clock. The game turned in favor of the home team, however, as Rachael Kowalchick punched in an equalizer via a man-up strike for Long Beach State at 5:24 prior to Elisa Portillo (2:05, man-up) and Kowalchick (1:17, natural) staking the Beach for its first leads at 9-8 and 10-8, respectively. Ella Schneider trimmed the Crimson’s deficit back to one at 10-9 by putting away a man-up chance with 48 seconds left in regulation, but Lara Luka lined in the game-winning goal with an even-strength tally at the 21 seconds mark to return LBSU’s lead to a pair at 11-9. Erin Kim trimmed Harvard’s final margin of defeat back to a goal by burying a ball into the cage with 12 ticks remaining for the 11-10 final score.
For Harvard, O’Dea (four), Heidi Heffelfinger (two), Kim (two) Sasha Constandse and Schneider accounted for the offense in support of a one save effort by netminder Alexis Kieckhafer.
Across the tank, Portillo (four), Luka (two), Kowalchick (two), Chiara Amoroso (two) and Martina Cardona combined for Long Beach State’s 11 goals. Chelsea Oliver stopped 10 shots to earn the win in cage.
In a game which saw Harvard never trail until Portillo’s go-head marker with 2:05 left in the fourth quarter, the Crimson struck first to pull ahead 1-0 with 2:50 remaining in the first eight minutes. O’Dea connected for an even-strength goal for the opening blow prior to Portillo cashing in a man-up chance at 1:44 to even the damage at one-all.
Heffelfinger (56 seconds) and Cardona (36 seconds) exchanged goals to provide (2-1) and erase (2-2) a one-score lead for Harvard to cap off the first quarter.
Following a lengthy period of time without a goal, the Crimson went ahead and added some insurance in the second quarter as Heffelfinger (4:49, man-up) and O’Dea (39 seconds) deposited shots to make it a 4-2 contest. Portillo shaved a score off LBSU’s deficit prior to halftime by denting the twine via a penalty shot with 21 seconds remaining in the second quarter to move the Beach within 4-3 after 16 minutes of action.
The lead returned to a pair at 5-3 and 6-4 as O’Dea (7:39, man-up) and Kim (5:55) sandwiched a goal by Luka (7:15) to commence the third quarter. Portillo (2:44, man-up) and Amoroso (1:59) balanced the scoreboard at six-all before Constandse (48 seconds, man-up) and Amoroso (27 seconds) swished shots in the closing seconds of the frame to make it seven-all heading into the decisive fourth quarter.
