Box Score (PDF)

GENEVA, Ohio -- The Cal State East Bay water polo was defeated by Fresno Pacific Saturday morning, 9-6, in the semifinal round of the 2019 Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championships at SPIRE Institute. 

The victory gives the No. 2 seed Sunbirds the edge in the season series, 2-1, over the No. 3 seed Pioneers. For just the second time in the last six years, CSUEB will not play for the WWPA title as FPU advances to Sunday's championship game. 

The Pioneers will settle for a morning matchup with No. 4 seed Gannon to determine the third place team at the conference's annual tournament.

As they had Friday on their first round win over Salem, the Pioneers grabbed an early lead against the Sunbirds as well. Goalkeeper Daniela Passoni showed off her arm strength to net the game's first goal, catching the FPU keeper a bit out of position and scoring on a full-tank heave. Auriel Bill made it 2-0 with a minute left in the first, but Fresno Pacific quickly answered back with their first goal before the end of the quarter.

FPU kept that momentum going in the second period, tallying three straight goals to take over the lead. Ivanna Anderson scored for the Pioneers with 1:35 left in the second, but the Sunbirds came back and converted a powerplay to take a two-goal advantage into halftime. 

Passoni and the CSUEB defense stepped up big time to halt FPU's momentum coming out of the break. They held the Sunbirds off the scoreboard for the duration of the quarter. Meanwhile, Adrien Van Dyke converted a powerplay opportunity with 4 minutes left, then Maeve Flynn beat the keeper on a five-meter penalty shot with five second sleft, sending the teams to the fourth quarter knotted at 5-5.

Unfortunately, the Sunbirds played their best when it counted most, scoring two quick goals early in the final period to go back ahead. Anderson netted her second of the day to draw the Pioneers back within one with five minutes left to play, but FPU answered with two goals over the next two minutes. The Pioneers were unable to find the back of the cage on any of their scoring chances down the stretch, and the 9-6 score held as final.

The Pioneers will look to notch a top-three finish at WWPA Championships for the sixth straight year Sunday morning against Gannon in the final game of the year. A victory would bring the Pioneers back up to the .500 mark, as they currently stand at 14-15 for the season.