FRESNO, Calif. – Julia Ponce's three second-half goals powered Fresno Pacific over Cal State Monterey Bay, 7-4, on Saturday to give the Sunbirds a day split at Sunnyside Aquatics Center. Earlier in the day FPU fell to #24 CSU Bakersfield, 13-6, in non-conference action.
The Sunbirds move to 9-9 overall with the day split.
"The girls worked hard and I was really proud of their effort," said head coach
Bryan Suhovy. "We came out slow and it took us some time to get going, but once we did we really took off in the fourth quarter against (Cal State) Monterey Bay. Our press defense really allowed the counter attack to work and Julia did a great job of finishing for us. The girls recognized that and they found her in the water quickly to get her the key scoring opportunities."
With the score 4-4 with 1:03 to play in the third quarter, Ponce took over offensively for the Sunbirds and scored three straight to make the difference in the game. Ponce found the back of the cage on a power play twice during the stretch. The Sunbirds held the Otters scoreless the rest of the way to earn the win.
Ponce's hat trick led the Sunbirds offensively.
Emily Marr scored twice, both coming in the first quarter, while
Nia Apodaca added a goal and two assists.
Alyssa Stevens scored the final goal.
Courtney Hall was a wall in the cage and totaled 11 saves for the Sunbirds.
Tatiana Veloso led the Otters with a hat trick in the loss.
In the morning match, the Sunbirds couldn't overcome a slow start against the nationally-ranked Roadrunners. FPU trailed 7-2 at the break before CSUB used a 5-2 third quarter to put the game away.
Apodaca led the Sunbirds with two goals, while
Kaeli Hanson,
Emma McBride,
Emily Knowles and
Kaitlin Groothuyzen rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Hall made six saves in the cage.
The Roadrunners received three goals apiece from Ashley Paz, Jada Helberg and Tancy Aldridge in the win.
FPU jumps back into Golden Coast Conference play against California Baptist on Friday, April 1 in Riverside at 4 p.m.
