Scoresheet
HONOLULU, Hawaii - For the second straight game, the Cal State East Bay water polo team fell behind early and could not overcome the deficit, eventually falling to UC San Diego, 9-5, in its final game of the Spring Break trip to the Aloha State on Saturday. The Pioneers (14-10, 5-2 WWPA) gave up five goals in the first period and, despite a valiant comeback effort, could not knock off their conference rivals, dropping their second game of the season to the Tritons.
Erica Crain led the East Bay scoring efforts with a pair of goals, while
Tristan Kennedy-Donohue,
Sarah Grunberger and
Ariel Noriega each scored once to round out the scoring for CSUEB. In the cage, junior goalie
Jayme Pekarske made 10 stops in the losing effort. Sarah Lizotte led the Tritons with a hat trick, while goalie Kelly Campoli made six saves.
UC San Diego got off to a fast start and never looked back in the first quarter, scoring five straight goals and shutting out the Pioneers for the opening seven minutes. East Bay's offense finally woke up with just under a minute left in the period as Grunberger cut the lead to four goals with her only score of the game.
Leading 5-1, UC San Diego scored its only goal of the second period less than a minute in, taking back its five-goal lead. The Pioneers answered with a goal from Noriega to cap the scoring in the second quarter and send the game into halftime with UCSD leading 6-2.
The two teams traded goals again in the third period, with Crain cutting the lead to three goals for the first time in 13 minutes of play with her first of two at the 7:37 mark. After the Tritons responded to regain a four-goal lead, the Pioneers cut the lead to 7-4 with a goal from Kennedy-Donohue with 4:51 remaining in the third. UCSD had the last word in the quarter, however, scoring in the final three minutes to take an 8-4 advantage into the final period.
Though Crain scored another to open the fourth quarter, UCSD answered back again to cap the scoring and take its final 9-5 lead to seal the win.
The loss is the just the second of the season for the Pioneers against a WWPA opponent, with both coming at the hands of the Tritons. UCSD posted an 8-6 victory over East Bay on Feb. 11 in La Jolla.
Cal State East Bay returns to action next weekend when it head to Seaside to take on Cal State Monterey Bay and Concordia on April 2. The Pioneers will take on the Eagles at 1 p.m. before meeting the Otters at 4 p.m. with both games at The Otter Tank.
