Game 1 Stats | Game 2 Stats

LOS ANGELES — The Pioneer water polo team split their two WWPA games on the first day of the 12th annual LMU Invitational at Loyola Marymount's Burns Aquatic Center on Friday. Cal State East Bay (10-9, 1-3 WWPA) earned their first conference victory of the season by outlasting Cal State San Bernardino 14-12 in the early game. Later, the Pioneers lost to the tournament hosts, No. 14 LMU, by a score of 16-5.

Game 1 – CSUEB 14, CSUSB 12

The Pioneers got off to a good start in their first game thanks to junior Sara Hudyn, the WWPA's leading scorer. The Coyotes had no defense for Hudyn, who notched the team's first six goals of the game. Mary Reardon made four saves in the first half, and East Bay went to the break with a confortable 9-4 lead.

San Bernardino attempted to rally in the second half, scoring four goals in the third period and four more in the fourth. Misty Vu and Georgiana Bray each found the back of the cage twice in the third quarter as the Coyotes drew to within four at 11-7. They made it way too close for comfort down the stretch, scoring three straight goals in the middle of the fourth to make the score 12-11 Pioneers.

After Hudyn scored to put East Bay back up two, San Bernardino answered with a goal with :54 remaining in the game. Leading by just one, Claire Pierce iced the win with 25 seconds left. The senior scored her only goal of the game to secure the narrow 14-12 victory.

Hudyn set a career high with nine goals in the game, carrying the Pioneers offensively. Junior Allison Zell added two goals for East Bay. Pierce, Hollie Mickelson, and Nicole Meyer notched one score each. Reardon played the whole game in the cage and recorded six saves. This was the fifth straight win for the Pioneers over Cal State San Bernardino (6-20).

"Sara was unstoppable in the San Bernardino game," raved head coach Lisa Cooper after the day's action. "She was scoring from everywhere, and she was also great on the defensive end of the pool."

Game 2 – LMU 16, CSUEB 5

The Pioneers and Lions capped off the first day of action with a 4:30 p.m. showdown, but the East Bay offense did not enjoy the same level of success as it did earlier in the day. The Pioneers were held scoreless through the first period as LMU grabbed a 3-0 lead.

CSUEB finally got on the board in the second quarter when Zell scored her third goal of the day with 2:40 left. However, the Lions exploded for eight goals in the period scored by seven different players. They took a commanding 11-1 lead into halftime.

Pierce scored once in the third quarter and twice more in the fourth. Freshman Casey Rushforth added a goal in the final period, as well, but it wasn't enough to cut into the deficit. LMU didn't score in the fourth, nonetheless cruising to the 16-5 win.

Pierce recorded a hat trick with three goals to lead the Pioneers. Marrina Nation handled the goalkeeping duties and tallied six saves in the cage. Five players notched multiple goals for LMU (13-7, 5-1 WWPA).

The two big conference games on East Bay's schedule this weekend are now complete, but the team still has two more tough matchups to close out the tournament on Saturday. In the morning, they take on Whittier at 9 a.m. in a re-match of a game the Pioneers won 8-4 earlier in the year. Their final game tomorrow afternoon at 12:45 p.m. is against yet another nationally ranked, Division I opponent, No. 11 Princeton.