LOS ANGELES, Calif.--The Bakersfield water polo team dropped two matches to nationally ranked opponents at the UCLA Invitational on opening day of the 2014 season Saturday.
In the opener, the 'Runners lost to No. 16 Loyola Marymount 16-4. Scoring for Bakersfield were Paige Tsuruda (Jr., Honolulu, Hawai'i, Word of Life Academy), Janelle Shelby (Jr., San Diego, Calif., Grossmont HS), Bridgette Souza (R-Jr., La Jolla, Calif., Sonoma State), and Nicola Barrett (So., Cape Town, South Africa, Rustenburg HS). Shelby, Tsuruda, and Niki De Leon (So., So. Montebello, Calif., Montebello HS) all drew three ejections.
"I thought we came out with good energy," said Bakersfield head coach Jason Gall. "We had some great opportunities early in the game that we didn't convert. We 12 exclusions and obviously didn't convert enough of them."
The 'Runners dropped a 20-9 decision to No. 8 San José State in the nightcap. The Spartans led 10-6 at halftime and used a nine-goal third quarter to blow the game open. Shelby, Souza, and Katie Benson (Fr., La Crescenta, Calif., Crescenta Valley HS) all scored two goals. De Leon drew five exclusions while Tsuruda drew four. Benson made three steals.
"We definitely improved our offense," said Gall. "We scored some early 6-on-5s which kept us in the game. We're still making too many mistakes on defense, but those can be fixed, and its good to see some of our newer players getting on the scoreboard."
The Roadrunners take on the host Bruins in Sunday's opening match at 10 a.m.. UCLA is ranked No. 3 in the current Top 20 division I water polo poll. The tournament concludes at 2:30 p.m. against Concordia-Irvine.
~www.GoRunners.com~
MATCH 1
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
| Loyola Marymount |
3 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
16 |
| Bakersfield |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
LMU Goals-Castro 3, Johnson 3, Beck 3, Honny 2, Byrne 1, Alvarez 1, Manke 1, Smith 1, Hill 1.
CSUB Goals-Barrett 1, Souza 1, Shelby 1, Tsuruda 1
LMU Saves-Wright 8
CSUB Saves-Morisaki 5, Wahlstrom 1
MATCH 2
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
| San José State |
4 |
6 |
9 |
1 |
20 |
| Bakersfield |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
SJSU Goals-Not Available.
CSUB Goals-Shelby 2, Souza 2, Benson 2, Barrett 1, Aldridge 1, Tsuruda 1.
SJSU Saves-Not Available
CSUB Saves-Morisaki 4, Wahlstrom 1
