SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Azusa Pacific water polo defeated Santa Clara 17-12 Friday afternoon to tally its first Golden Coast Conference victory of the season. The Cougars had 10 different goal scorers in the game as they improved their overall record to 7-13 and 1-3 in conference action.

Skylar Ford led the Cougars' offense with a pair of goals and a career-high six assists while Kyra Kahahawai recorded a hat trick in the win.

How it Happened: The Cougars' came out on the attack in the early going as Montana White scored on the power play just 35 seconds into the game. Azusa Pacific scored the next two goals to make it 3-0 as Bri Erickson and Shyanne Rainey each scored. After a Broncos goal, Azusa Pacific scored three unanswered coming from Kahahawai, Kaelene De Bie, and Ford to take a 6-1 lead. The Broncos scored the final two goals of the first period to make it 6-3.

Kahahawai would complete the hat trick just over three minutes into the second period as she recorded a pair of goals giving Azusa Pacific the 8-4 advantage. But, Santa Clara would tally three of the final four goals of the first half to close the gap to 9-7 at the break.

The Cougars would tally two more in the third to extend their lead to 11-8 before exploding for six goals in the fourth to clinch the win. Lauren Hoyle and White each scored to open the fourth before Milena Guzmán Ortiz recorded two goals in the fourth making it 15-10 with just four minutes left in the game. Haley Allbee scored her first career collegiate goal to make it 16-11 before Ford scored her second of the game to cap off the 17-12 win in style.