LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay water polo team was defeated by a pair of nationally-ranked teams Saturday on the first day of the 2019 Triton Invitational at Canyonview Aquatic Center. The Pioneers opened the tournament with a 15-4 loss to No. 6 UC Irvine in the first round. They took on No. 20 UC San Diego in the second round and fell by the exact same score to their conference rivals. 

The Pioneers are now 2-2 to start the season, having just made it through the most difficult pair of opponents they will see in any one day this season. 

CSUEB was extremely impressive to start the morning against UCI, turning in a tremendous defensive effort in the first quarter. Payton Bosque scored the first goal of the game midway through the period, and it stayed 1-0 until the Anteaters evened the score on their last possession of the quarter. 

Irvine finally broke out scoring seven goals in the second period and six more in the third to pull away for the comfortable win. Senior Maeve Flynn found the back of the cage twice for the Pioneers, and Brook Hodgkinson notched one in the goal column in the fourth. All four of CSUEB's goals in the contest came on power plays following UCI exclusions. 

The Pioneers were back in the pool later in the afternoon to battle a familiar foe in UCSD. They have had some tight matches with the Tritons in recent years, but UCSD came out firing on this day. The Tritons led 5-1 after the first quarter, with Brittany Smith scoring East Bay's lone goal. The home team extended it to 9-1 before Briana Ruiz scored with just under two minutes remaining before halftime. 

Auriel Bill netted a pair of goals in the third quarter, but the second half of play was not particularly dramatic as the Tritons extended their lead.

The Pioneers have two more games Sunday as they move through the bracket at the Triton Invitational, starting with their second showdown of the season with Santa Clara at 9:20 a.m. Depending on the result of that game, East Bay will take on either Pomona-Pitzer or No. 22 San Diego State in the weekend finale.