CSUEB 11, Iona 8 -- Box Score (PDF)
Santa Clara 7, CSUEB 6 -- Box Score (PDF)

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay water polo team played two extremely tight games on Sunday to close out their weekend at the 2018 Triton Invitational. The Pioneers defeated Iona in the morning by a final score of 11-8 before falling to Santa Clara, 7-6, this afternoon in the tournament finale. 

Auriel Bill led the way with a hat trick in the first match, and Briana Ruiz tallied two goals in both games as the Pioneers return home from their trip to San Diego with a 3-5 overall record.

Things did not look promising at the outset of the morning game, as Iona quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first two minutes of play. However, East Bay's defense, led by goalkeeper Makenna Nation, was excellent from that point forward. 

Bill finally got the Pioneers on the board with 3:21 left, and then Gabriella Garcia made it 3-2 before the end of the period. After Iona scored on its opening possession of the second quarter, CSUEB rattled off four consecutive goals -- including two straight by Ruiz -- to take over the lead heading into halftime.

Brooke Hodgkinson found the back of the cage coming out of the break, making it 7-5 in favor of East Bay. But Iona quickly answered with a pair of goals to tie the game up. From then on, Nation and the Pioneer defense stepped up held the Gaels to just one goal over the final 14 minutes of game time.

Bill gave CSUEB the lead back with three minutes to go in the quarter, and then Adrien Van Dyke scored just before the end of the third to make it 9-7. After the squads traded goals early in the fourth, East Bay was able to make that two-score lead hold up. They navigated their way through three Iona power play opportunities without allowing anything, before Bill put a stamp on the win with her third goal on the team's final possession.

The victory pitted the Pioneers against Santa Clara in the final round of the tournament, the second matchup between the teams in as many weeks. East Bay prevailed in a thrilling back-and-forth contest back on Feb. 4, but the Broncos were able to get revenge in La Jolla and escape with a one-goal win.

As expected, the game was exceptionally close and scoring was hard to come by. There was just one goal in the first period, as Hailey Eberle put the Broncos ahead 1-0 nearly six minutes into the game. It took only 30 seconds in the second quarter for the Pioneers to even it up, however, as Ruiz found the back of the cage. 

SCU took the lead back two minutes later, but Ivanna Anderson made it 2-2 on the very next possession. Garcia scored again for the Pioneers in the final minute of the second, but the Broncos answered back, tying the score with 31 seconds left to make it 3-3 at the break.

Bill scored her first goal of the afternoon two minutes into the second half, and the Pioneers held that 4-3 advantage nearly the entire period before SCU's Maggie Oys beat the third quarter buzzer to tie the score once again.

Then in the fourth, Santa Clara netted two goals within a minute of each other to go up 6-4, the largest lead by either team in the game. With 3:48 left, Ruiz got the Pioneers back within one with her second goal. They had a couple chances to tie it, but then Annie Eldredge scored a back-breaking goal with 2:17 left to put the Broncos back up two.

Bill notched another goal in the final minute, but the Pioneers weren't able to come up with enough late magic to force overtime. 

Cal State East Bay and Santa Clara will meet one more time this season on Mar. 17, and if the first two match-ups are any indication, that game should be circled on the calendar. 

Next up, the Pioneers have a bit of a break with just one game scheduled next week. They take on yet another Division I squad in Fresno State on Saturday, Feb 17 as part of the UC Davis Aggie Shootout.