Box Score: APU 12, CSUEB 9
Box Score: CSUEB 18, Occidental 5

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- It was an up-and-down day for the Cal State East Bay water polo team on the second day of the Tina Finali Invitational at Cal Lutheran's Samuelson Aquatic Center. The Pioneers fell to Azusa Pacific, 12-9, Saturday morning before coming back to rout Occidental by a final score of 18-5 later in the afternoon.

The first game of the day was tight throughout, but the Cougars grabbed an early lead and were able to score effectively enough to hold off the Pioneers. 

Adrien Van Dyke opened the scoring just over a minute into the game, but on the next possession the Cougars got a five-meter penalty shot and tied the score. It was still even 3-3 after the first quarter, but then APU scored five times in the second to snag the advantage.

Gabriella Garcia scored her second goal just before halftime to draw CSUEB with 8-5 at the break. She also scored on the first possession of the second half to record the hat trick and bring the Pioneers within two.

It seemed at that point like the momentum might be flipping toward the Pioneer bench, but alas it was not to be. Three Cougar goals in the final three minutes of the third quarter gave them an 11-6 lead heading into the final period.

CSUEB never quit down the stretch, and Auriel Bill scored early in the fourth to notch a hat trick of her own, but they simply ran out of time trying to erase their deficit. 

Makenna Nation tallied four saves and a pair steals in the cage, and Brooke Hodgkinson and Leilani Vazquez scored a goal apiece in the loss. 

After a break of several hours, it was a whole different story in the second match of the day against Occidental. The Pioneers fell behind quickly 1-0 before the offense got hot and rattled off six goals by six different players in the final six minutes of the first quarter. 

They tacked on four more goals in the second period to make it 10-1 before the Tigers netted a pair in the final minutes before halftime. 

Senior Erika McFeggan allowed just one goal in each of the last two quarters, easily picking up her first win of the season as a starting goalkeeper.  

The Pioneers score four goals in the third, then four more in the fourth as 10 different individuals got in on the fun. Briana Ruiz and Beverly Ayers both picked up hat tricks with three goals apiece to lead the way. Van Dyke, Garcia, Vazquez, and Cheyenne Brady all scored twice, while Bill, Brittany Smith, Maeve Flynn, and Cheyenne Pena all notched a tally into the goal column as well.

East Bay's highest scoring game of the season brings the team's overall record to an even 6-6 heading into the final game of the road trip Sunday morning. The Pioneers take on the University of Toronto at 10:00 a.m. before heading back home to the Bay Area.