Box Score: UC Irvine 23, CSUEB 4   |   Box Score: LMU 10, CSUEB 3

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay women's water polo team fell to a pair of top-20 opponents on Saturday, the opening day of the 2017 Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego. The Pioneers drop their season record to 2-4 following a 23-4 loss to No. 8 UC Irvine and a 10-3 loss to #20 Loyola Marymount.

The Triton Invite is a seeded tournament, and the Pioneers drew a tough first round opponent in the 8th-ranked Anteaters. UCI scored four times in the first four minutes of the game before Brandi Carroll finally got East Bay on the board with a goal at 3:59. 

The Pioneers scored again two minutes later as Rocio Fesembeck found the back of the cage following an Anteater ejection. But the score wouldn't get any closer than 4-2, as Irvine tacked on a goal in the final minute of the first quarter, then opened up an 11-2 halftime lead with six unanswered goals in the second. 

CSUEB doubled its goal total in the third, as Fesembeck notched her second 6-on-5 goal and Alicia Tully scored with two minutes left to close out the period. Unfortunately East Bay simply couldn't stop the UCI offense, which totaled six goals in each of the last three quarters. 

The Pioneers found themselves matched up with 20th-ranked Loyola Marymount in the afternoon, as both teams dropped their openers. The second game of the day was much closer, but once against East Bay wasn't quite able to match the offense of the Division I Lions. 

Leilani Vazquez scored the first goal of the game, less than a minute into the first quarter, to put the Pioneers up 1-0. However, LMU answered back with three goals in the last four minutes of the period, two of which came during 6-on-5 situations. 

For the second game in a row, the Pioneers couldn't find the back of the net in the second quarter. The Lions scored three more times, including one just before the halftime buzzer, to take a comfortable 6-1 lead into the break.

LMU netted three more in the third quarter to make it nine straight goals before the Pioneers finally answered back. It was Tully again, making the score 9-2 with her second goal of the day. The Pioneers matched the Lions 1-1 in the final quarter, as Fesembeck scored yet again.

The Pioneers have two more games on the docket for Sunday to close out the Triton Invitational. They are matched up with WWPA rival Sonoma State in their third round game, which is set to begin at 9:20 a.m.