THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific women's water polo team closed out the Tina Finali Invitational on a strong note on Saturday, defeating Chapman 15-6 in their second game of the day, but falling short 15-11 against California Lutheran in their morning game.
QUOTABLE
"It was a strong team effort for the finish this weekend. Everyone contributed. We continue to trend in the right direction. We still have some work ahead of us, but as a team, we ended the weekend better than when we started. That's the growth we strive for every game." – head coach
Bryan Suhovy
GAME ONE
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Cal Lutheran got off to a hot start, scoring four goals within the first five minutes to take a 4-0 lead.
- Dani Chastain was able to get the Sunbirds on the board with 2:56 to go in the first, but the Regals fired right back, scoring three more to close out the quarter and take a 7-1 lead.
- FPU struck first in the second quarter thanks to a goal from Emily Lopez-Ibarra. Cal Lutheran answered to keep their six-goal lead, but back-to-back goals from Tatum Benson and Amy Zaninovich cut the deficit to four with 5:01 left in the first half.
- Cal Lutheran was able to close out the first half on a 3-0 run and took an 11-4 lead into the break.
- Amanda Briscoe scored first to start the second half, but the Regals responded with two goals of their own.
- Madison Jacques was able to put her first goal on the board with 2:58 left in the period, but Cal Lutheran was able to answer with just 17 seconds left in the third to take a 14-6 led into the final eight minutes.
- After Cal Lutheran scored early in the fourth, the Sunbirds were able to go on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to four.
- It started with a goal from Sam Dieterle with just over 4:05 to go in the game, followed by Jacques's second goal of the day.
- That was backed up by Chastain's second goal of the game, and then Bella Alcazar put two in the back of the net with 2:02 remaining and 11 seconds remaining.
STATS FROM THE GAME
GAME TWO
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Benson scored the first goal of the game to put the Subirds up 1-0, and she was able to add a second goal just 23 seconds after the Panthers tied the game 1-1.
- The Panthers were able to tie things back up at two goals apiece, but Walker was able to net one to give FPU a 3-2 lead after one quarter of play.
- Chapman was able to open the second quarter with two goals to give the Sunbirds a 5-2 lead.
- A goal by the Panthers cut into that lead by one, but Briscoe scored her second goal of the day with 1:54 left before half to get their lead back to three.
- Another goal from the Panthers came with 30 seconds left in the half, and the Sunbirds held a 6-4 lead at the break.
- The Sunbirds came out hot to start the second half, rattling off three goals to go up 9-4.
- It started with Lopez-Ibarra, followed by a goal from Zaninovich just a few seconds later.
- Bloom was able to net her first of the day with 3:54 left in the third.
- The Panthers were able to answer with one goal, but that led to a 5-0 Sunbird run that extended into the fourth quarter.
- That run started with a goal from Lopez-Ibarra, followed by another from Benson.
- Chapman was able to score her third and fourth goals of the game, with a third from Lopez-Ibarra in between.
- The Panthers scored one more goal with just over five minutes to go, but Dieterle was able to add one more for FPU to put it out of reach.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- Chapman had a massive day, scoring four goals on four shots.
- Benson and Lopez-Ibarra were both able to net three goals in the win.
UP NEXT
The Blue and Orange go back into tournament play March 4-5 in Laverne, California. They'll take on Concordia and Ottowa on Friday starting at 11:15 a.m., with matchups against Macalester and Villanova on Saturday starting at 9 a.m.
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