LA VERNE, CA — Fans of thrilling finishes were in for a treat on Saturday as the University of La Verne women's water polo team entered sudden-death overtime against Villanova.
With 2:13 left in the period, the Wildcats' Amanda Rice was called for a five-meter penalty, placing the spotlight on La Verne junior Jassmine Kezman. The two-time All-American came through and darted a shot to the back of the net to give the Leopards the 10-9 win.
Kezman finished with a game-high four goals and team-high three steals against the Wildcats. Kezman netted two of her goals in the first quarter to help the Leopards jump out to a 3-1 lead.
Freshman Nancy Trinh had a great outing, scoring three times off just four attempts. Trinh came up huge for La Verne in the fourth quarter. With the Leopards trailing 8-6 with less than three and a half minutes to play, the Temple City native scored a power-play goal to cut the deficit to one. Less than a minute later she came through again, this time scoring off a Sumi Rudisky assist to send the game to overtime.
Shelby Garcia was a force in front of the net. The senior racked up a career-high 15 saves in the win to go with one steal and just nine goals. Garcia allowed just one goal in the first half
Fellow freshman Nanea Mattson did it all for the Leopards dishing out two assists, adding a steal, and scoring in the first overtime period to put La Verne up 9-8.
Senior Candice Vorbeck assisted on a pair of goals including Mattson's overtime score and stole a pair of possessions. Ilene Guerrero and Rudisky each scored once.
La Verne 17, Penn State-Behrend 4
La Verne went on to rout the Lions in the final game of the Convergence Tournament. Thirteen different Leopards scored in the win with Alicia Thompson, Emilie Eastman, Kayla Garcia, and Sage Nowell each scoring twice.
Angelica Espinoza, Lauren Holcomb, Sona Aghasaryan, Kelly Riedel, Annette Aladefa, Shelby Garcia, Vorbeck, Guerrero, and Rudisky each scored once.
Garcia picked up the win in the cage with two saves and a steal and Rudisky added two saves.
The Leopards went into halftime up 6-3 but put on the jets in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 9-0 in the period to run away with the win.
Season Impact
The Leopards end the 2020 Convergence Tournament 3-1 and improve to 8-5 overall.
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