Game 1 Box  |  Game 2 Box

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay water polo team snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday afternoon at Sullivan Aquatic Center. The Pioneers erased a 9-6 deficit late in the fourth quarter and pulled off a 10-9 win over Fresno Pacific as freshman Auriel Bill netted the game-winner with 47 seconds left.

The Pioneers (2-2) split their Saturday doubleheader following a tight 6-4 loss to the host Broncos in the morning.

The first game of the day was a back-and-forth defensive battle. After neither team scored in the first quarter, Leilani Vazquez got the Pioneers on the board early in the second. But the home team answered back with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. 

Brandi Carroll scored the first goal of the third quarter to tie the score at 6:51, then the Broncos took the lead back a minute later. Olivia Mackell found the back of the cage off an assist from Vazquez with 4:05 left in the third to tie the game once again. 

However, SCU's Annie Eldridge netted a goal before the end of the third, then two more in the fourth, to give the Broncos a 6-3 lead. Bill finally scored in the final minute, but the Pioneers simply couldn't muster the offense in the final period, finishing 0-for-7 in powerplay situations overall.

CSUEB had a long break before their second showdown of the season against the Sunbirds at 3 p.m. Once again, they played an extremely close game, but this time their luck was much better.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Beverly Ayers and Vazquez, but FPU came back and tied the score before the end of the quarter. East Bay opened the second with two quick goals as Bill scored on a powerplay and Gabriela Garcia converted a penalty shot. And again the Sunbirds came back, scoring three straight to take over the lead. Both squads found the back of the net in the final minute, and when the dust settled at halftime after an eventful two periods, the score was tied 6-6.

FPU scored the only two goals of the third quarter and added another with 6:23 left in the fourth. That's when Bill, the freshman from Canada, went into hero mode. She assisted on Garcia's second goal to make the score 9-7, but East Bay's outlook still looked grim as the clock ticked under three minutes. With 2:44 left, Bill scored on an assist from Nicole Williams. 16 seconds later, Carroll found her for another goal to tie the game 9-9. 

Both teams had a chance to take the lead in the final two minutes, but it was Bill who broke the tie off a pass from Carroll. Her fourth goal of the afternoon was the game-winner as the Pioneers completed the comeback.

Senior goalkeeper Nikki Vaughan made eight saved against Santa Clara and tallied nine against Fresno Pacific.

Next week, the Pioneers will travel south for the annual UC San Diego Triton Invitational, which begins Saturday morning, Feb. 11, when CSUEB takes on No. 6 UC Irvine.