FRESNO, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay women's water polo team played a WWPA Championship Semifinal match against McKendree on Saturday at Fresno State Aquatics Center. The Pioneers defeated the Bearcats, 14-10 and advanced to the championship match which will be played on Sunday. Leading Cal State East Bay in goals with six on Saturday was Leti Mosqueda.
In the first quarter, the Pioneers get on the scoreboard first with 6:02 left in the quarter on an Adrien Van Dyke strike. The Bearcats tied the match with 5:30 left in the quarter on a Danielle Borelli shot. The next two goals were traded, with the Pioneers goal coming from Mosqueda. Tied at 2-2, McKendree took a brief 3-2 lead at the 2:32 mark until Mosqueda answered with her second goal of the quarter at the 1:25 mark. With 13 seconds left in the first quarter, Jordan Jarandson netted the go-ahead goal, as Cal State East Bay led 4-3 through the first quarter.
The Bearcats scored the first goal of the second quarter to even the match at 4-4 on an Abigail Burton shot just 14 seconds into the quarter. Mosqueda, Van Dyke and Auriel Bill scored the next three goals for Cal State East Bay. Although Burton netted a goal at the end of the first half, the Pioneers led 7-5 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Pioneers added four unanswered goals to start the quarter. Bill scored at the 5:11 mark, Mosqueda scored twice in a 1:24 span while Bill and Van Dyke each scored her third of the match. Although McKendree got a goal back late in the third, Cal State East Bay led 11-6 going into the final quarter.
Van Dyke and Mosqueda would open the scoring in the quarter to give the Pioneers a 13-6 lead. Although the Bearcats scored four of the next five goals, with Van Dyke netting her fifth of the match during the stretch, Cal State East Bay finished with a 14-10 win to advance to the WWPA Championship Match.
Cal State East Bay outshot McKendree 28-24 and won three of the four opening sprints.
Mosqueda finished with six goals and Van Dyke had five. Van Dyke also had two assists.
Postgame Quotes from Cal State East Bay head coach Lisa Cooper
"Today was a good game. I am happy with our intensity. Adrien and Leti both had monster games for us both offensively and defensively. It was a very physical game and I was impressed how well my whole team kept their composure and played disciplined East Bay water polo."
Cooper added: "We have done the hard work to be in this position to play for the conference championship. My team is feeling fit, fast and prepared. I am so excited for tomorrow."
And tomorrow, Cal State East Bay will compete in the 2022 WWPA Championship match. The Pioneers will take on East Division top-seed Salem University at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday from Fresno State Aquatics Center. It will be the first WWPA Championship match appearance for Cal State East Bay since 2018.
The Pioneers won two regular season matches against the Tigers, with both contests between the two teams taking place in the ASU Invitational back in February. Cal State East Bay defeated Salem, 12-11 in overtime on February 11 and defeated the Tigers, 13-9 the following day. On Saturday, Salem reached the championship match by defeating Biola, 16-11.
