Cal State East Bay Drops WWPA Tournament Opener to Colorado State
The Pioneers take on Cal State Monterey Bay in the consolation bracket on Saturday. (Image: WWPA)
- April 30, 2010
Box score |
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The third-seeded Cal State East Bay women's water polo team could not get past No. 6-seed Colorado State in the first round of the 2010 Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championships on Friday, falling to the Rams, 10-8. The Pioneers (21-12) will now move into the consolation bracket and are set to face ninth-seeded Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday morning in Bakersfield.
Both teams got off to a slow start in a game that saw Colorado State never trail after scoring the first goal of the game just 18 seconds into the first quarter. East Bay answered with a goal from junior Liz Warren 90 seconds later, tying the game 1-1. After Aspen Rapp put the Rams up 2-1 with the first of her five goals in the game at the 5:07 mark, neither team scored for the remainder of the first period.
Leading 2-1, CSU put together what would become a decisive quarter in the second, out-scoring the Pioneers 4-2. Rapp scored her second straight to open the second stanza before freshman Claire Pierce pulled East Bay back within one at the 4:51 mark. The Rams, however, responded with back-to-back goals from Sarah Ostling and Kailin Custy, gaining a three-goal advantage, 5-2, for the first time. Two minutes elapsed before either team scored again, as Pierce notched her second of the quarter to bring the Pioneers back within two with less than a minute remaining before the half. Rapp continued her hot streak, though, scoring just before the half to put CSU up 6-3.
Cal State East Bay struck first in the third quarter, as Warren scored again to cut the lead to two, 6-4, at the 6:32 mark. Rapp answered with her fourth of the game to regain a three-goal lead. After a five-meter penalty on Shannon Kohl, Pioneer freshman Chelsie Bryan put away the penalty shot to make it 7-5 with just over five minutes left in the third. East Bay made it two in a row when sophomore Jenna Gelet scored with 3:22 left, but the Rams quickly answered with a goal from Rapp just 18 seconds later. The Pioneers hung in there, though, finishing the quarter with a goal from junior Danielle Comforti to cut the lead to just one, 8-7, heading into the final period.
An exciting fourth quarter saw the Pioneers tie the game for the first time since the first period with Comforti's second straight goal at the 5:56 mark, evening the score at 8-8. Despite Cal State East Bay's best efforts, it could not get another past Colorado State goalie Melissa Fisher, who made five saves in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, CSU's Katy Armstrong scored the decisive goals in the final four minutes of the game, giving the Rams the 10-8 win.
Warren, Comforti and Pierce each scored a pair of goals to pace the Pioneers offensively, while senior goalie Lauren Merrill posted two saves. Rapp's five goals were a game-high, while both Armstrong and Ostling notched two for the Rams.
The victory earned Colorado State a date with No. 2-seeded UC San Diego in tomorrow's semifinals. The Pioneers will move on to face a familiar foe in the ninth-seeded Otters. Cal State Monterey Bay fell in their first-round matchup with No. 8 Cal State San Bernardino, 11-9.
East Bay split a pair of games with the Otters in the regular season, falling in a hotly contested 10-9 decision at home before avenging the loss in Seaside on April 3. Junior driver Tristan Kennedy-Donohue led the Pioneers in the win over CSUMB, scoring four goals, while the Otters' Katie Sowul scored five against East Bay in its Feb. 7 loss.
Saturday's meeting with the Otters is set for a 10:20 a.m. start at Cal State Bakersfield's Hillman Aquatics Center. The winner will advance to meet seventh-seeded Sonoma State at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The loser of tomorrow morning's game will play the loser of the matchup between No. 5 Santa Clara and No. 10 Chapman on Sunday at 9 a.m. Click for more WWPA Championships information, results and schedules.