IRVINE, Calif. - The No. 17 ranked CSUB water polo team picked up an upset victory over the No. 16 ranked Long Beach State 49ers, 7–2, Saturday at the UC Irvine Mini Invitational. The win closed out a challenging day in which the Roadrunners fell to No. 10 Arizona, 19–1, and to the host Anteaters, 17–11, who were ranked ninth in the nation.
Against No. 10 Arizona State, sophomore Kaitlin Torres scored and tied the game, 1–1, early in the first quarter. After that, however, the Sun Devils scored 18 unanswered goals as they rolled to a 19–1 victory. Freshman Megan Pezzolla played the first half and had four blocks while sophomore Megan Wetherbee played the second and also had four blocks.
Things were closer against No. 9 UC Irvine. Trailing 4–3 after the first quarter, the Anteaters tallied six goals in the second quarter to open the game up. Senior Becky Seelos had four goals and classmate Alyson Moss had two. Torres also had two goals. Senior C.J. Longeuay and freshmen Kelsey Davidson and Brittani Marquez each tallied one goal. Moss and Longeuay each had two assists. Moss also drew three ejections and Seelos drew a pair. Senior Brittany Berry had two steals. In goal, Wetherbee had three blocks in just over a quarter of action. Pezzolla, who finished the game, had five blocks.
The day culminated with a big victory over No. 16 Long Beach State, 7–2, in the final contest of the invite. It was CSUB's first victory in program history over the 49ers. Torres and Moss each tallied a pair of goals while Seelos, Longeuay and freshman Jessica Browning each had one. Browning drew three ejections defensively while Moss, Seelos and Longeuay each drew two. In goal, Pezzolla had eight blocks while recording three shutout quarters.
“This was our fifth game in two days,” Head Coach Jason Gall said. “I thought that despite the fact we were a little tired, we really stepped up and played strong. We were putting shots on the cage and executing things we weren't doing well earlier which is positive. I think we are really starting to come together and this was a great way to end our weekend."
CSUB will face a familiar foe, the Long Beach State 49ers, on Saturday, Feb. 6, in the first round of the UC San Diego Invitational. The two–day tournament is the only advancement style invitational the Roadrunners will participate in before the WWPA Championship. There are 16 teams broken up into four brackets. CSUB is seeded third along with San Diego State, Long Beach and Redlands.
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Final
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No. 10 Arizona State
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3
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5
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8
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1 |
19
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No. 17 CSU Bakersfield
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1
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0
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0
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0
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1
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Goals:
CSUB - Kaitlin Torres (1)
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Final
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No. 9 UC Irvine
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4
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6
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3
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4 |
17
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No. 17 CSU Bakersfield
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3
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2
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3
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3
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11
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Goals:
CSUB - Alyson Moss (2), Becky Seelos (4), Kelsey Davidson (1), C.J. Longeuay (1), Brittani Marquez (1), Kaitlin Torres (2)
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1
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2
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3
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4
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Final
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No. 16 Long Beach State
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0
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2
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0
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0
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2
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No. 17 CSU Bakersfield
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1
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3
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3
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0
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7
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Goals:
CSUB - Alyson Moss (2), Becky Seelos (1), C.J. Longeuay (1), Kaitlin Torres (2), Jessica Browning (1)
