Cal State Bakersfield's shorthanded water polo squad lost three matches to nationally-ranked competition over the weekend, losing to No. 2 UCLA 25-0, No. 6 San Diego State 20-6, and to No. 19 Brown 9-7.
Bakersfield was shorthanded over the weekend with two of its top players away on national team assignment. Amanda Ortiz and Paola Medina were both playing with their Puerto Rico national team, and the offense normally provided by Ortiz as the nation's top scorer along with Medina's usual strong defense were clearly lacking.
UCLA led 12-0 at the half and a nine-goal third quarter made it an outrageous 21-0 through three periods. It marked the first time that Bakersfield had been shutout since 2005 when Loyola Marymount defeated the Roadrunners 17-0.
The San Diego State match was much of the same. Despite trailing just 4-2 after one period thanks to goals from Bori Toth and Yulia Blinovskaya, the Aztecs outscored Bakersfield 14-3 over the next two periods to turn it into a blowout.
Bakersfield was much more competitive against Brown and nearly pulled off a win despite playing without Ortiz and Medina. Bakersfield only led 1-0 but never let the game get out of hand. A Blinovskaya goal with 1:24 left in the match made it 8-7 Brown, but the Bears added a late goal to pull out the win.
Neshmil Ariy and Blinovskaya each had four goals to lead Bakersfield over the weekend.
The Roadrunners now head to Davis, Calif., for the Davis Shootout on Saturday and Sunday. Bakersfield's four opponents in the tournament will be Cal State Northridge, UC Davis, Santa Clara and Cal State Monterey Bay.
