Scoresheet

HAYWARD, Calif. – Though it fell to Loyola Marymount, 14-7, in the second semifinal at the WWPA Championship on Saturday afternoon, the Cal State East Bay water polo team is set to post its best finish in program history at the event after going 1-1 so far. The Pioneers (20-14) were shut out in the first half against the Lions but scored seven goals in the second half, including five in the last five minutes of the game, to advance to Sunday's third-place game. Fifth-seeded East Bay will meet No. 3 seed Santa Clara on Sunday at 12 p.m.

It was all Loyola Marymount in the first half, as the eighth-ranked Lions posted five goals in the opening quarter and another four in the second. LMU took advantage of its 6-on-5 situations in the first half, scoring on three of the Pioneers' six exclusions in the first 16 minutes. Meanwhile, East Bay could not get past Lions' goalie Elise Ponce, who made three saves and held off the Pioneers through four player-advantage situations.


Trailing 9-0 at the half, East Bay finally broke through with a 6-on-5 goal from Claire Pierce at the 6:29 mark in the third quarter. Pierce added another less than two minutes later to cut the Lion lead to seven, 9-2, midway through the third period. LMU answered back, however, scoring three straight goals, including a pair from Erin Manke, to end the quarter with a 12-2 advantage.

Despite trailing by 10 goals, the Pioneers continued to work, scoring five goals in the final period and holding the Lions to just two goals – their lowest scoring quarter of the game – in the fourth. After Camille Hoop gave LMU its fourth straight goal and a 13-2 lead, East Bay reeled off three goals in less than two minutes to close the gap to 13-5. Sara Hudyn made it 13-3 before Erica Crain gave the Pioneers their fourth goal at the 2:17 mark. Pierce followed with her third goal of the game, bringing her two-day total to seven.

Though the Lions finished off their scoring with 1:06 left in the game, Cal State East Bay continued to find a way through the LMU defense, posting a pair of goals in the final minute. After Sarah Grunberger, the national assists leader, scored one for herself, senior Jenna Gelet capped the scoring with a skip shot past Ponce with three seconds left to end the game.

Pierce led the Pioneers with the hat trick, while Hudyn, Grunberger, Gelet and Crain each added a goal apiece. Junior goalie Jayme Pekarske recovered from the nine-goal first half to allow just five in the second and post 10 saves overall in the loss.

Cal State East Bay moves on to tomorrow's third place game against Santa Clara with a guaranteed best-ever finish at the WWPA Championship. The Pioneers' previous best finish was last season's fifth-place showing. The Broncos are a familiar foe for East Bay, as the two teams have already faced off three times this season. The Pioneers hold the 2-1 advantage in the series, but the Broncos claimed their only win – an 11-5 triumph – just two weeks ago at the Roadrunner Invitational in Bakersfield. Santa Clara opened the tournament with a 7-4 win over Sonoma State before falling to UC San Diego, 9-7, in the first semifinal on Saturday.

The Pioneers and Broncos are set to meet for third place at 12 p.m. on Sunday at Chabot College. The day will begin with the seventh-place game between Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State Bakersfield/Sonoma State at 9 a.m. The fifth-place matchup between Colorado State and Cal State Bakersfield/Sonoma State is set for a 10:30 a.m. start and the 2011 WWPA Championship final will see No. 1 seed LMU face second-seeded UC San Diego at 1:30 p.m. Complete schedules, results and information on the 2011 WWPA Championship is available here.