LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Thea Neushul scored with 38 seconds left in the second three-minute overtime period as Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 4-ranked the University of California-Santa Barbara edged Southwest Division runner-up/No. 7 San Diego State University, 7-6, in the opening round of the 2023 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of California’s Park Pool at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center.
Courtesy the win, UC-Santa Barbara advances to an 11:20 a.m. quarterfinal game on Saturday, May 6, at the Spieker Aquatics Center on UCLA’s campus against the victor of a first round clash pitting Southeast Division Champion/No. 15 Florida State University and Midwest Division Champion/No. 8 the University of Notre Dame.
San Diego State returns to the water at 9:55 p.m. this evening against the fallen from the Florida State-Notre Dame game in the consolation side of the 16-team championship bracket.
Due to the win, UC-Santa Barbara can not finish lower than eighth place in the final tournament standings, while San Diego State is unable to place higher than ninth place.
San Diego State opened the scoring with 41 seconds remaining in the first quarter as Silke Tuyls buried a man-up chance to stake the Aztecs to a 1-0 margin.
Morgan Lewis evened the damage at one-all 24 seconds into the second quarter, but Emily Maddox returned SDSU to the lead 30 seconds later to make it 2-1 with 6:06 on the clock.
UC-Santa Barbara closed out the first half with a 4-0 outburst over the remaining six minutes as Codi Ortiz (5:36), Lewis (3:53; 2:18, man-up) and Neushul (1:35) ticket on tallies to put the Gauchos ahead 5-2 at the halftime break.
The teams exchanged scoring blows in the third quarter as Tuyls (4:29, man-up) and Lewis (1:49, man-up) deposited six-on-five bids to keep UC-Santa Barbara ahead by three (6-3) going into the final seven minutes of regulation.
However, the Maddox exploited Gauchos’ faux-pas in the fourth quarter for man-up goals with 6:11 and 4:36 remaining to close within 6-5. The Aztecs completed the comeback with six seconds on the clock as Jordan Wagner dented the twine to balance the scoreboard at six-all.
Neither team scored during the first overtime period and both struggled to find the back twine until Neushul zipped in the game-winner with 38 seconds left.
The Gauchos’ defense did the rest as UC-Santa Barbara held off San Diego State over the final seconds to claim a 7-6 victory.
For San Diego State, Maddox scored three times, Tuyls added a pair and Wagner deposited a solo marker. Roisin McMullen made 16 saves.
Lewis (four), Neushul (two) and Ortiz combined for UC-Santa Barbara’s seven goals in support of a combined three save performance by Taylor Tait (two) and Jordan Sibley (one).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | OT1 | OT2 | — | FINAL | |
| No. 7 San Diego State University |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 |
| No. 4 University of California-Santa Barbara | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | 7 |
| UCSB Goals: | Morgan Lewis (4); Thea Neushul (2); Codi Ortiz | |||||||
| San Diego State Goals: | Emily Maddox (3); Silke Tuyls (2); Jordan Wagner | |||||||
| Saves: | UCSB – Taylor Tait (2), Jordan Sibley (one) ; San Diego State – Roisin McMullen (16) | |||||||
| Exclusions: | UCSB – 11 ; San Diego State – 11 | |||||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | UCSB – 3-for-11 ; San Diego State – 4-for-11 | |||||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | UCSB – None ; San Diego State – None | |||||||
| Officials: | Aaron Springer; Brandon Skiba | |||||||
San Diego State University’s Jordan Wagner (#6) eyes a potential opening at the University of California-Santa Barbara’s Thea Neushul (#4) defends
University of California-Santa Barbara’s Giselle Lewis (#3)
