O'FALLON, Ill. – Cal State East Bay water polo ook on Mercyhurst in the first round of the 2023 WWPA Women's Water Polo Championship at McKendree Metro Rec Plex. The Pioneers outscored the Lakers by four in the first quarter and cruised to a 10-4 victory.
Cal State East Bay outscued Mercyhurst, 4-0 in the opening quarter.
Rachel Heredia and
Luna Sarmiento scored two goals apiece.
In the second quarter, each team traded goals. The Lakers would score their goal with 4:12 left in the half. The Pioneers responded with a strike from
Rachel Heredia with 11 seconds left in the half as the Pioneers led 5-1 at halftime.
In the third quarter, CSUEB outscored the Lakers, 4-2 with two goals each for the Pioneers coming from
Jordan Jarandson and
Elise Whitworth.
Hope Grantham scored the Pioneers' only goal in the fourth quarter. Although Mercyhurst acored a goal in the quarter as well, it was not enough as Cal State East Bay took the first round match with a 10-4 victory to advance to Saturday's semifinals.
- Heredia finished with three goals.
- Sarmiento had two goals and two assists.
- In net for the Pioneers, Daniela Passoni made nine saves.
- Defensively, Cal State East Bay combined for 19 steals, a season-high.
- Mercyhurst outshot Cal State East Bay 26-24 and won three of the four opening sprints.
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UP NEXT FOR CAL STATE EAST BAY |
In Saturday's WWPA Championship semifinal, the Pioneers return to McKendree Metro Rec Plex to take on No. 4W seed Cal State Monterey Bay. Opening sprint is set for 12:30 p.m. central time (10:30 a.m. Pacific). It will be the fourth meeting between the Otters and Pioneers this season with Cal State East Bay winning the previous three matchups.
