BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Cal State Bakersfield made it quite clear on the first day of the Roadrunner Invitational on Saturday that it is its offense that has earned its No. 19 national ranking.
The Roadrunners continued their high-octane attack with an 18-9 win over Cal State East Bay and a 17-10 win over Cal Lutheran at the John S. Hillman Aquatics Center.
Through nine games of the 2007 season, Bakersfield has scored 108 goals, which is the most in the program's history through nine games. The prior high through nine games by a Roadrunner team was in 2000 when Bakersfield scored 93 goals, but the schedule wasn't nearly as difficult as this year's Roadrunners have already played four nationally-ranked teams.
The goals have come from a variety of players, but Amanda Ortiz and Yulia Blinovskaya are leading the team with 32 and 30 goals respectively. Despite just beginning their second seasons of water polo at Bakersfield, Blinovskaya is tied for No. 6 and Ortiz is No. 8 in career goals with the Roadrunners.
Against Cal State East Bay, the Roadrunners starter slow but exploded for six second-period goals and cruised to the win. CSUEB's Jeanette Demences helped keep things close early on with two first-quarter goals, but it was all Bakersfield from the second period on. The Roadrunners got two goals each from Ortiz and Blinovskaya in the second quarter to lead the way.
Ortiz and teammate Neshmil Ariy lead Bakersfield with six goals apiece, while Blinovskaya and Paola Medina added two goals and Bori Toth and Brittany Berry scored once for the Roadrunners. Cal State East Bay was led by Cindy Melendez with three goals, while Demences and Nikki Snyder scored twice and Laura Demences and Kai Bourne scored once.
Blinovskaya led Bakersfield's attack in the Cal Lutheran game with five goals, while Amanda Ortiz, Bori Toth and Neshmil Ariy all added three. Joy Cyprian led the Regals with three goals.
Bakersfield raced to a 5-1 lead less than a minute into the second period, but Cal Lutheran made a game of it and closed the gap to three goals at 7-4 at the intermission. The Regals scored first in the third period to make it 7-5, but that's as close as CLU would come. Bakersfield responded with five consecutive goals in a span of less than three minutes to put the game away.
Other scores from Saturday's action included Cal Baptist taking a pair of wins over Sonoma State (15-7) and Cal State East Bay (14-6). Sonoma State won the nightcap in a thriller over Cal Lutheran, 8-7.
The Roadrunners continue at the Roadrunner Invitational on Sunday with games against Cal State San Bernardino at 10:30 a.m. and the University of Pacific at 4 p.m.
No. 19 Cal State Bakersfield 18, Cal State East Bay 9
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
CS East Bay (3-3) 3 1 2 3 9
CS Bakersfield (5-3) 3 6 4 5 18
Goals
CSUEB – Cindy Melendez 3, Nikki Snyder 2, Jeanette Demeneces 2, Laura Demeneces, Kai Bourne.
CSUB – Amanda Ortiz 6, Neshmil Ariy 6, Paola Medina 2, Yulia Blinovskaya 2, Bori Toth, Brittany Berry
No. 19 Cal State Bakersfield 17, Cal Lutheran 10
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Cal Lutheran (0-1) 1 3 3 3 10
CS Bakersfield (6-3) 4 3 6 4 17
Goals
CLU – Joy Cyprian 3, Michele Hernandez 2, Nicole Pecel 2, Whitney Haroldson, Lauren Bridges, Marianne Paradowski
CSUB – Yulia Blinovskaya 5, Amanda Ortiz 3, Bori Toth 3, Neshmil Ariy 3, Katherine Gillett, Brittany Berry, Paola Medina
