Box Score
The shorthanded Sunbirds put on a defensive clinic in the first half against one of the top teams in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), but were unable to withstand a second half onslaught by Cal State East Bay in a 13-4 loss to the Pioneers.
“They are a really solid team. I am very proud of how are girls played today. In the first half we were in it all the way, defensively we were solid,” said head coach Bryan Suhovy. “We were recognizing and helping each other out and forcing them to he smart. Kelsie stepped up big in the cage and gave us some big saves early on.“
Kelsie Harvey was a stonewall in the cage stopping 14 CSU East Bay (4-7) shots in the game, her second highest single game total of the season. Dani Mortimer led the Sunbirds (1-8) offensively with two goals bringing her season total to 17. Emily Marr and Samantha Clark each scored once in the match.
The Sunbirds fell behind in an early 2-0 hole but a rocket shot from the outside by Marr cut the deficit to one. Harvey had five saves in the first quarter two keep CSU East Bay out of the back of the net.
Fresno Pacific did not let up in the second quarter with multiple steals and three Harvey saves the Sunbirds were able to maintain just the one goal deficit against a team that nearly upset #11 Michigan on February 10.
The second half was a different story as the deep East Bay squad applied relentless pressure early in the third quarter that led to three unanswered goals in the quarter and two more unanswered in the fourth quarter before FPU got back on the board at 8-3.
“Having just two subs hurts us in the second half. We just run out of stamina in the second half. The girls were still working hard and giving it everything they have, but when teams are running whole line changes on us it starts to affect us in the back end,” said Suhovy. “They were able to get some fast breaks which led to some goals, especially in that fourth quarter is when it really hit us hard.”
Clark added a goal with 2:49 remaining in the fourth quarter to make it 10-4, but the Pioneers were already off and running.
