No. 25 CSUN Water Polo (7-13) earned a split in its Thursday round robin tournament at Matador Pool. CSUN dropped a high-scoring battle to No. 18 Harvard, 15-13, earlier in the day and the Matadors cruised to a 16-8 triumph over Redlands in the nightcap. Madeleine Sanchez scored six goals on the day including four against Harvard while Amy Yule have five and Lindsey Garcia tallied four in the two contests.

In the opener, the Matadors nearly erased a seven-goal deficit but were unable to complete the comeback effort in their match with the Harvard Crimson.

The visitors jumped out to an early lead with a pair of goals in the opening minute of the match before Sanchez cut the lead in half at the 6:01 mark of the period. After Harvard’s Charlotte Hendrix pushed the lead to 3-1, Alexis Elias trimmed the lead back to one with her first goal at the day at the 3:34 mark. CSUN was unable to move closer in the quarter however, as the Crimson owned the final minutes of the period with three-straight goals to go up 6-2.

Harvard added another goal to push its advantage to five until CSUN ended its dry spell with Sanchez’s second goal of the match in the second. The Crimson would take control in the waning moments of the second, outscoring CSUN 4-2 for the remainder of the half, despite scores from Shannon Hovanesian and Miranda Coleman.

Following intermission, the Matadors made a push to get back into the game. Capitalizing on a Harvard ejection, Elias tossed one past the goalkeeper and Yule connected on her first goal of the day to trim the deficit to 11-7.

After a timeout, the Crimson went back up 12-7 before Sanchez and Garcia knocked in back-to-back-goals to bring CSUN closer. At the 3:25 mark of the third, Katelyn Fairchild put the Matadors back on the scoreboard once more, making it 12-10. Harvard though maintained its lead to end the third, scoring twice more to CSUN’s one, to lead 14-11 heading to the fourth.

Through three periods the two sides combined to score 25 goals, but in the final period both teams tightened up their defenses with only three tallies coming in the final 8:00.

Hendrix recorded her fourth goal of the match 00:36 into the fourth before the Matadors once again put together another rally. Coleman posted her second tally of the game with 3:33 left to play and Hovanesian added another goal at 1:20 mark of the quarter to once again bring CSUN to within two at 15-13. The Matadors would not get any closer in the final seconds however, as Harvard managed the clock effectively down the stretch to earn the victory.

Harvard: 6-5-3-1 = 15
CSUN: 2-3-6-2 = 13

Harvard Goal Scorers: Hendrix 4, Anderson 3, Balding 2, Martinelli 2, Hong 2, Osborne, Strutner
CSUN Goal Scorers: Sanchez 4, Coleman 2, Elias 2, Hovanesian 2, Yule, Fairchild, Garcia

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Against Redlands, CSUN came out firing in the early going. Yule started the Matadors off on the right foot with back-to-back scores in front of the net in the first minute. The Bulldogs would have an answer as the tandem of Taylor Christie and Michelle Na each struck the netting to even the contest at 2-2 with 2:09 to play in the first.

CSUN capitalized on a Redlands turnover to take back the lead on a Coleman tally from the left wing and the Matadors held the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for the remainder of the period to lead 3-2 heading to the second.

In similar fashion to the first period, Yule posted another tally to go ahead 4-2 in the early stages of the second. Moments later, the Matadors capitalized on a Bulldog ejection as Sanchez hit a shot from straight way of the goal to take a three-goal lead. CSUN kept the pressure on the Bulldogs with efficient play down the stretch of the second period to add to its advantage. Fairchild, Garcia, Yule and McKenzie Pollei each picked up goals in the final minutes to give the Matadors a 9-3 cushion at intermission.

After halftime, the Matadors continued their strong offensive play to put the game out of reach. Sanchez opened up the scoring in the second half at the 6:36 mark of the quarter followed by goals from Fairchild and Pollei, which gave CSUN a 12-6 lead after three quarters.

CSUN added insurance goals in the final stanza to secure the victory. Garcia pushed her goal total to three with two goals in the fourth while Taryn Kamimoto and Carly Wickman each recorded their first goals of the season in the final period.

The Matadors will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to compete in the Loyola Marymount Invite. CSUN faces San Jose State at 9:15 a.m. followed by a 3:30 p.m. meeting with Whittier College.

Redlands: 2-1-3-2 = 8
CSUN: 3-6-3-4 = 16

Redlands Goal Scorers: Christie 2, Na 2, Kinney, Walker, Kahahawai, Hunter
CSUN Goal Scorers: Yule 4, Garcia 3, Fairchild 2, Pollei 2, Sanchez 2, Coleman, Kamimoto, Wickman