BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — While there is still plenty of season remaining in 2007 for No. 19 Cal State Bakersfield, the home portion of that schedule is now complete and the Roadrunners did something it has never accomplished in a single season before — finish undefeated at home.
That feat was accomplished on Tuesday when Bakersfield crushed Claremont 20-2 and then edged Indiana 14-10 at the John S. Hillman Aquatics Center to finish 2007 with a flawless 9-0 record at home.
And to do so, Bakersfield had to beat Indiana, which it had never done before.
Early on, it appeared that the Hoosiers might get the better of Bakersfield once again. Indiana led 4-2 after one period, but Bakersfield took the lead at 5-4 midway through the second period and steadily grew its lead before scoring the final two goals of the match for the 14-10 decision.
Amanda Ortiz scored 12 goals on the day, including five against Indiana, to extend her national-best scoring mark to 83 goals on the season. Those 83 goals place Ortiz just eight goals short of Bakersfield's single-season scoring record of 91 goals set by current Assistant Coach Dawn Loveless and current Roadrunner Yulia Blinovskaya.
Blinovskaya is ranked No. 2 in the nation in goals scored and added six more goals to her total to raise her season mark to 71 goals and her career to now stands at 162. She now ranks No. 2 all-time in Bakersfield water polo history in career goals, only trailing Loveless who finished her career with 227 goals.
Bakersfield is also ranked No. 2 in the nation in goals scored this season — trailing only UCLA — and has currently scored 295 goals on the year. The Roadrunners' school record for most team goals scored in a season is 326 set last year and they have a guarantee of 13 more games this year to score the 31 goals needed to break that record.
The Roadrunners will get an up-close and personal look at the top scoring team in the country this year when they play UCLA next Saturday in Los Angeles.
No. 19 Cal State Bakersfield 20, Claremont 2
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Claremont (1-4) 1 1 0 0 2
CS Bakersfield (16-5) 3 6 5 6 20
Goals
CMS – Kristyn Ross 2.
CSUB – Amanda Ortiz 7, Neshmil Ariy 3, Yulia Blinovskaya 3, Lorene Vidal 3, Paola Medina 2, Katherine Gillett, Brittany Berry.
No. 19 Cal State Bakersfield 14, Indiana 10
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
Indiana (6-10) 4 2 3 1 10
CS Bakersfield (17-5) 2 5 5 2 14
Goals
IU – Melissa Soria 4, Kara Woolley 2, Brooke Zimmerman 2, Maggie Hannon, Emily Schmitt.
CSUB – Amanda Ortiz 5, Yulia Blinovskaya 3, Paola Medina 3, Neshmil Ariy 2, Katherine Gillett.
