Box Score

GENEVA, Ohio -- The Cal State East bay water polo team lost in heartbreaking fashion to rival Sonoma State on Saturday by a final score of 7-6 in the semifinals of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championships at SPIRE Institute.

This marked the third straight season the Pioneers (12-13) and Seawolves (11-18) have matched up in the tournament's semifinal round, and it's the first time Sonoma has come out victorious. The previous two contests went into overtime, and while today's game was decided in regulation, it was an extremely tight, back-and-forth affair.

Senior Brandi Carroll notched a hat trick for the second year in a row in the semifinals, but it wasn't quite enough in game that featured stout defense and outstanding goalkeeping on both sides.

Carroll scored the first goal of the afternoon 48 seconds into the game on a five-meter penalty shot. This would prove to be a theme, as the game was tightly officiated throughout, resulting in 24 total ejections called. Indeed the only two scores of the first quarter were on penalty shots, as Taylor Brown evened the score for the Seawolves at 2:43. 

The Pioneers struck quickly in the second period, with Carroll finding the back of the cage on the team's second possession. Next time down the tank, Auriel Bill assisted Katelyn Clark on a goal to make it 3-1 in favor of East Bay. However, SSU answered back as Carleigh Robinson scored the first of her three goals, sending the teams to halftime with CSUEB ahead 3-2.

Sonoma's defense frustrated the Pioneers early in the third, and the Seawolves scored a pair of goals to take their first lead of the game midway through the period. But the Pioneers rallied back, as Carroll tied the game with 2:13 left in the quarter, and then Nicole Williams gave them the lead back on the team's final possession. Unfortunately, Williams left Sonoma exactly 35 seconds on the third period clock, and Nicole Grout scored at the buzzer to tie the score 5-5.

Three minutes into the fourth quarter, the Pioneers got a 6-on-5 opportunity, and Olivia Mackell assisted Rocio Fesembeck for the go-ahead goal on the powerplay. But the Seawolves had an answer once again, as Robinson found the back of the cage on the next possession.

Both teams had several chances over the final four minutes, but neither could break the 6-6 tie until Carroll was ejected with 47 seconds left. Sonoma called a timeout, and then just before the end of the kick-out clock, Robinson scored a powerplay goal at 0:32 to put the Seawolves back ahead. 

East Bay had once final chance to score and force overtime, but Leilani Vazquez's shot was tipped by the defense, allowing Sonoma to hang on for the dramatic win.

Nikki Vaughan tallied nine saves and three steals in the cage, and helped hold SSU to just 3-for-12 on powerplay opportunities. 

The Pioneers will play the third-place to close out their season Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m. against Cal State Monterey, which fell to No. 1 seed UC San Diego in Saturday's other semifinal game. It will break a streak of three straight trips to the WWPA title game for CSUEB.