LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 19 UC San Diego women's water polo team earned eighth place in the 16-team Triton Invitational on Sunday after dropping a pair of hard-fought matches against No. 13 UC Santa Barbara and No. 17 Cal State Northridge at Canyonview Aquatic Center.

Freshman goalie Courtney Miller finished the afternoon with 25 saves, totaling 38 over the weekend tourney.

Sarah Lizotte led the team with four goals, while Julia Kirkland and Melissa Bartow each added three Sunday.

The Tritons are now 4-4 overall on the season.

Game 1
UCSD and UCSB battled, with the Gauchos taking a narrow 12-11 sudden death overtime victory.

Jolene Guiliana scored the game's opening goal, followed by a lob by freshman Lauren Finwall to give the Tritons a 2-1 lead in the first quarter.

UC Santa Barbara earned a slight advantage through the middle of the match-up, taking a 7-5 lead into the fourth quarter, its largest lead of the game.

Kirkland tallied all three of her goals in the fourth frame to send the contest into overtime, tied at 9-9.

Both squads netted one goal in each of the first two overtime periods, with Bartow and Alexis Wieseler scoring for UCSD to extend the game to a sudden death period.

The Gauchos ultimately took the match, 12-11, by scoring with 49 seconds remaining.

Miller made 11 saves in net for the Tritons. Counterpart Ruth Milne stopped 11 shots for the Gauchos.

UCSD 2 - 2 - 1 - 4 - 1 - 1 - 0 = 11
UCSB 1 - 3 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 12

UCSD Goals: Rachel Brooks, Melissa Bartow 3, Alexis Wieseler, Julia Kirkland 3, Sarah Lizotte, Lauren Finwall, Jolene Guiliana
UCSD Saves: Courtney Miller 11

UCSB Goals: Jessie Porter 4, Claryann Olofsson-Loo, Bryn Hudson 2, Rachel Nelson 2, Samantha Murphy 3
UCSB Saves: Ruth Milne 11

Game 2
In the seventh/eighth place game, Cal State Northridge held on for a 9-7 win.

UCSD came out strong in the first half, getting goals from Lizotte, Finwall and Guiliana to help the Tritons to a 4-3 lead at halftime.

Lizotte scored again in the third quarter, but it proved to be the Tritons' lone goal of the stanza. The Matadors struck for four goals and led by a score of 7-5 after three periods of play.

Guiliana and Wieseler each tallied a goal in the final eight minutes, but it wasn't enough as CSUN matched UCSD with a pair of goals to take seventh place with the 9-7 victory.

Miller totaled 14 saves for the Tritons, while Natalie Averell had 10 for the Matadors.

UCSD 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 = 7
CSUN 2 - 1 - 4 - 2 = 9

UCSD Goals: Alexis Wieseler, Sarah Lizotte 3, Lauren Finwall, Jolene Guiliana 2
UCSD Saves: Courtney Miller 14

CSUN Goals: Lindsy Nelson, Marisa Young 2, Molly Henehan 2, Celena Photopulos, Leah Janke 2, Jenny Jamison
CSUN Saves: Natalie Averell 10

In the championship game, No. 2 USC rolled to a commanding 12-5 win over fifth-ranked Arizona State. No. 6 UC Irvine took down No. 7 San Diego State, 9-5, in the third place match.

For a complete list of results and statistics from the weekend, please visit the tournament central page. 

UCSD will hit the road next weekend as it plays at the UC Irvine Invitational Feb. 23-24.

-- UCSDtritons.com --