Results
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay water polo team posted an 11-8 win over Santa Clara and an 8-7 defeat to Colorado State to finish off the regular season at The Bronco on Sunday. The Pioneers (17-11) finished the weekend 3-2 overall and 2-2 at the tournament, which served as a tune up for WWPA Championships, which will be held in two weeks at UC San Diego.
East Bay opened the day with a solid 11-8 victory over the Broncos. After taking a 4-3 lead through one quarter, the Pioneers pushed their advantage to two, 7-5 at the half. A low-scoring third quarter produced just two total goals for the two squads, sending the game into the final period with East Bay leading 8-6. Three goals in the fourth quarter gave the Pioneers the victory.
Claire Pierce led the team with five goals in the game, while both
Carly Clark and
Erica Crain scored a pair.
Sara Hudyn and
Sophie Armstrong also chipped in with a goal apiece. Goalie
Jayme Pekarske posted five saves to help the Pioneers claim their second win over Santa Clara this season.
In a closely contested game with Colorado State, the Pioneers fell behind 2-1 after the opening quarter. East Bay kept it close in the second frame, matching the Rams goal-for-goal to go to the half trailing 4-3. CSU held the Pioneers to just one goal for the second time in the game in the third, scoring two of its own to take a 6-4 advantage into the final quarter. Though the Pioneers outscored the Rams 3-2 in the fourth, Colorado State held on to pick up the 8-7 win, evening the season series to one win apiece.
Pierce continued to have the hot hand in game two, scoring another three goals to bring her weekend total to 21. Hudyn added two and Armstrong and Crain each posted one goal to round out the scoring for East Bay. Pekarske was busy in between the pipes, stopping 14 Ram shots in the loss.
Cal State East Bay now has two weeks to prepare for the 2012 WWPA Championships. The Pioneers will enter the tournament with a 10-6 record against conference opponents. The championship tournament will get underway on April 27 at the Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla.
