BOX SCORES
#16 Wagner 14, CSUEB 4
Bucknell 12, CSUEB 9 (OT)

LOS ANGELES -- The Cal State East Bay water polo team fell to two more tough opponents on Saturday to wrap up the LMU Invitational. No. 16 ranked Wagner powered past the Pioneers 14-4 in the morning, then CSUEB went to overtime for the second day in a row in the tournament finale, ultimately losing to Bucknell by a 12-9 score.

The Pioneers went winless at Loyola Marymount, although they came about as close as you can in a pair of thrilling games. The team is now 9-10 for the season heading into a three-game home stand over the next two weeks. 

In the pool at Burns Aquatic Center at 11:45 a.m. for the first game, Wagner played like one of the top teams in the nation. They scored four unanswered goals in the first quarter, then made it 9-0 in the second before Meghan Hayward beat the first half buzzer to get the Pioneers on the board.

Briana Ruiz and Brittany Smith both scored in the third, and Maeve Flynn added a goal in the fourth, but Wagner was able to cruise the victory in the second half on the strength of their early lead. Senior Makenna Nation made 11 saves for the Pioneers in the cage.

They were back in the tank a couple hours later to take on Bucknell, which was receiving votes just outside the top-25 in last week's coaches poll. It was a tremendous battle with the teams trading goals back and forth the entire way.

The Bison led 3-2 after the first on goals by Adrien Van Dyke and Maci Taylor. Van Dyke tied it early in thee second, but Bucknell answered with two straight goals. Smith then scored her only goal of the afternoon on the last possession of the half to bring East Bay back within one at 6-5.

Van Dyke tied in again to secure her hat trick with 2:17 left in the third, scoring the only goal by either team in the quarter. Bucknell re-took the early early in the final period and East Bay was unable to answer on several possession as the clocked ticked under three minutes. But Van Dyke more heroics in store.

The sophomore scored her fourth goal to tie the game with 2:35 left, then a minute later, after a Bucknell exclusion and a Pioneer timeout, Van Dyke converted the powerplay with her fifth goal to put CSUEB ahead. Bucknell got one final possession with 16 seconds left, and unfortunately they were successful, scoring just before the final buzzer to force overtime. 

It was still tied with 1:36 left in the first extra period when Auriel Bill was whistled for her third exclusion, disqualifying her. The Pioneers were already playing without Ruiz and Ivanna Anderson, and that gave the Bison the edge they needed to prevail. Flynn netted a goal for East Bay, but Bucknell out-scored them 4-1 in the overtime periods to pull away.

The Pioneers nearly pulled off the victory despite being called for 15 exclusions, nearly double their opponent's total. Daniela Passoni racked up 15 saves as the goalkeeper and notched a pair of steals.