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2/7/2026 | 6 PM
Feb. 07 (Sat) / 6 PM
LMU
LA JOLLA, Calif. – It was an eighth-place finish for UC San Diego women’s water polo in its own Triton Invitational as the team dropped its final game to UC Irvine Sunday morning.
The Tritons kept it close for much of the contest but wound up on the losing end of a 14-9 decision at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
UC San Diego, ranked 12th nationally, went 1-3 over the three-day, 16-team tournament. The Tritons defeated No. 14 UC Davis and lost against No. 2 USC, No. 9 LMU, and the 11th-ranked Anteaters.
UCLA, ranked third in the country, bested USC, 12-9, to win the 2026 title.
For complete results and standings, visit the tournament page.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Irvine scored the game’s first two goals and never found itself trailing throughout the entire match.
UC San Diego tied it up once. Emily Cloherty scored with 46 seconds remaining in the opening quarter to knot it at 4-4. Just 18 seconds later Vivian Bailey put UC Irvine in front, 5-4, and the Anteaters stayed in front until the final horn.
The Tritons cut the deficit to a single goal in the second quarter when a Cloherty power play strike made it 7-6 at 4:37. However, that was as close as they would get as UC Irvine scored the next two goals and took a 9-6 advantage into halftime.
Both teams scored three goals in the third period. Abigail Schechter had two of those for UC San Diego, one on a power play, the other on a five-meter penalty shot. Evelyn Burns also found the net on a penalty shot to close out the quarter with the Tritons down by three at 12-9.
The fourth-quarter scoring was monopolized by the Anteaters. Lauren Hett tallied a power play goal at 6:44 and Sara Naulty closed out the scoring with a goal at 1:03.
Schechter scored a team-high four goals while Cloherty registered a hat trick and added an assist for four points. Freshman Caitlin Stayt collected a goal and an assist. Triton goalie Bria Zwaschka made eight saves and also had three steals and an assist.
Hett finished with a game-best five goals. CJ Sirles made four saves and Annie Peak had five had UC Irvine.
TRITON TIDBITS
• The Tritons had 33 shots to the Anteaters’ 23.
• UC San Diego held a 14-9 advantage in steals.
• The Tritons converted all three of their penalty shot attempts.
• UC Irvine scored six power play goals to UC San Diego’s four.
• The powerhouse field of the Triton Invitational boasted 13 teams nationally-ranked in the top-25 and six of them could be found among the top-10 in the country.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego hosts Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. Season tickets and single game tickets are available through the Triton Box Office.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.