Box Score: SSU 11, CSUEB 8 - FROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Cal State East Bay women's water polo scored six unanswered goals in the second half but ran out of time during its 11-8 road loss to Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) foe Sonoma State on Friday afternoon. The Pioneers were unable to beat the Seawolves for a third time this season after previously earning 8-6 and 6-4 victories.
Cal State East Bay failed to score a 6-on-5 goal against Sonoma State on Friday, going 0-for-10 on the day. The Pioneers went 3-for-3 in their most recent win over the Seawolves and had scored three player advantage goals in each of the previous two meetings.
Cal State East Bay's
Taylor Cross scored twice within 26 seconds including a 5-meter penalty conversion to give the visiting Pioneers a 2-1 lead at the 5:34 mark of the opening quarter. Those would be the only two first half scores as Sonoma State (8-17) would go on to close out the half scoring seven unanswered goals.
Cal State East Bay was stunned trailing 5-2 after the first quarter, 9-2 at halftime, and a Nicole Browning goal early in the third quarter made it an 8-goal margin midway through the third quarter. The Pioneer offense, which had been shut out for more than 19 minutes of game time, would rally to score six goals over the final 10-plus minutes of regulation.
Casey Rushforth finished with three goals and two assists to lead the Pioneers. All of her offensive work came in the final 11 minutes starting with her two assists to
Sabrina Hatzer and
Simonne Call late in the third quarters.
Rushforth then scored three of the next four Pioneers goals with two coming off assists from
Tori Dettloff and
Kristin Boston. Her final score at the 2:57 mark made it a 10-8 score and the nearly impossible comeback seemingly now in reach.
Cal State East Bay missed on a late 6-on-5 chance to pull within a single goal. Then SSU's Brittney Hummel sealed the game with her team-high third score with 97 seconds remaining in regulation.
SSU goalkeeper Andrea Mallul made 14 saves in the win. CSUEB goalkeepers
Marrina Nation and
Miranda Diehm combined to make seven stops in the loss.
Cal State East Bay (11-15) will close out the regular season with its "Senior Day" on Saturday, April 11, against Bakersfield (12-13).
