HAYWARD, Calif. - At Pioneer Pool on Saturday, the Cal State East Bay women's water polo team lost 19-8 to UC Irvine.
Auriel Bill scored three goals toward a hat trick.
In the first quarter, the Anteaters scored the first three goals of the game. Bill got the Pioneers on the scoreboard with 4:43 left in the quarter to trim the Anteaters' lead to 3-1. The Anteaters extended their lead to 4-1 with 3:10 left in the quarter but the Pioneers would respond with a Maddie Wittkowske goal with 2:48 left in the quarter. The Anteaters led 5-2 at the end of the first quarter.
UC Irvine expanded its lead in the second quarter with a pair of goals to open the quarter. Bill would scored her second goal of the match with 4:51 left in the half to trim the Anteaters' lead to 7-3. Although the Anteaters would score again to extend their lead to 8-3, the Pioneers got a goal back on a strike by Bill to trim the lead to 8-4 with 1:55 left in the half. The Anteaters added two more goals to end of the half and lead 10-4 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Anteaters would hold the Pioneers at arms' length. Luna Sarmiento scored first for the Pioneers with 7:33 left in the quarter. Sarmiento would add another goal with 4:13 left but the Anteaters led 14-6 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, the Anteaters would expand their lead once more, outscoring CSUEB 5-2 on the way to a 19-8 vitory. The Pioneers added goals from Briana Ruiz and Caroline Vollmer in the fourth.
UC Irvine outshot CSU East Bay 38-26 while the Pioneers won three out of the four opening sprints.
Following the match Cal State East Bay head coach
Lisa Cooper spoke about the match. "I thought we played well," said Cooper. "UC Irvine is just a tough opponent who just beat UC Berkeley, the No. 4 ranked team in the country. Our movement was good and we were able to draw ejections and convert our 6-on-5 opportunities."
The next match for the Pioneers will be this coming Wednesday as they continue their homestand against Fresno Pacific University in WWPA play. On March 26, Cal State East Bay defeated FPU, 16-6. The first sprint is set for 1 p.m.
