Scoresheet

LA JOLLA, Calif. - After hanging with No. 17 UC San Diego for the opening two quarters of play, the Cal State East Bay women's water polo team scored just one goal in the second half of an 8-6 loss on Friday night at Canyonview Aquatic Center. Junior goalie Jayme Pekarske posted her third straight 12-save effort for the Pioneers (2-3, 1-1 WWPA) who posted their first conference loss of the season.

In a game that saw five ties and more ejections than goals, senior Whitney Bell opened the scoring just over a minute into the match to give East Bay an early 1-0 lead. After the Tritons answered, the Pioneers regained the lead, 2-1, with sophomore Claire Pierce's first score of the game. Another UCSD goal with 2:25 remaining knotted the score at two goals apiece before freshman Sarah Grunberger put the Pioneers back up less than 20 seconds later. The Tritons closed the scoring in the first quarter with a goal at the 1:27 mark to send the game into the second tied at three.

UCSD took its first lead of the game with 6:45 left in the second quarter, getting a goal from Melissa Bartow to go up 4-3. After drawing an ejection, the Tritons took the first two-goal lead of the match with a player-advantage score from Kirsten Bates, her second goal of the game, with 5:44 left in the half. East Bay responded, however, with back-to-back goals to end the half. Pierce posted her second of the day, while Grunberger converted a penalty shot with 2:58 remaining to tie the game at five goals apiece at the half.

UC San Diego opened the second half by drawing a penalty just 15 seconds into the third quarter. Leading scorer Hanalei Crowell converted on the penalty shot to give the Tritons back a one-goal lead, 6-5. With 3:39 remaining in the quarter, the Pioneers scored their only goal of the second half, getting a score from junior Carly Clark on a player-advantage opportunity to tie the game, 6-6. After drawing an exclusion with just 45 seconds left in the period, UCSD took advantage of the extra player with a goal from Katherine Biehle that proved to be the game winner for the Tritons, who took a 7-6 lead into the fourth.

The low-scoring fourth quarter saw just one goal from either team, with UCSD scoring just over three minutes into the period to secure the 8-6 win.

Pierce and Grunberger paced the Pioneers with two goals apiece, while Clark and Bell each added one. Pekarske, the reigning WWPA Player of the Week, was impressive again, holding the Tritons to just eight goals, her fourth straight game allowing nine or fewer goals. Pekarske now has 53 saves on the year and is allowing an average of just over eight goals per game.

Crowell and Bates led the Tritons with a pair of goals each, while goalie Kristen Ostosh needed just three saves to post the win.

Cal State East Bay kicks off the Triton Invitational in La Jolla tomorrow morning when it meets No. 6 Loyola Marymount at 8 a.m. Cal State Bakersfield and No. 13 Cal State Northridge will meet in the other Group B matchup. The winners of each game will face off at 2:40 p.m., while the losers will meet at 1:20 p.m. All three games will be held at the Canyonview Pool on the UCSD campus.