The Long Beach State women’s water polo team defeated visiting UC San Diego, 9-6, led by hat-tricks from sophomore Krizia Cerda and junior Meaghan Leonard.
LBSU attacked the Tritons aggressively in the second half following a slow first half for both teams. Tight defense and missed shots were the story in a low-scoring first period.
Leonard scored the first goal for LBSU (3-5) in the opening minutes to put the 49ers up, 1-0. UCSD’s Stephanie Bocian tied the score with a goal of her own at the 3-minute mark.
The second period was virtually the same as the first. Cerda put the ‘Niners ahead with a goal at the 5-minute mark until a penalty shot by the Tritons’ Hanalei Crowell in the final minute resulted in a 2-2 tie to end the half.
“We were just a little bit tight in the beginning,” said 49er head coach Gavin Arroyo about the first half of play. “We were getting opportunities. It was just a matter of time for our offense to come.”
And the offense quickly came.
Junior 2-meter Lauren Sieprath scored in the first minute of the third period to put LBSU up, 3-2, followed by a goal from UCSD attacker Audra Bloom to tie the score. Leonard would score a minute later to put the ‘Niners ahead, but the Tritons fired back with a goal from Stephanie Heinrich 10 seconds later. Cerda scored again to end the third with LBSU leading, 5-4.
The ‘Niners opened the fourth period with three straight goals by sophomore Katie Rogers, Cerda, and Sieprath to go up, 8-4. A foul resulted in another penalty shot for Crowell as she scored again for the Tritons to cut the deficit 8-5. Leonard scored LBSU’s last goal to raise the lead to, 9-5, at the 3-minute mark.
The Beach then focused on defense to prevent UCSD from scoring and put the game away. Crowell scored UCSD’s final goal at the last minute for the final tally.
“The win was really good,” Cerda said. “We were pretty close to losing to them last time. We came together in the end really well.”
While the ‘Niners added seven goals to their score in the second half, their defense stayed consistent. LBSU allowed only two goals in the third period and another two in the fourth. The two goals in the fourth period were a penalty score and a goal in the final minute of play.
As the veterans led the charge on offense, Arroyo said he appreciated the play from the younger players.
“We are, for the most part, freshmen,” Arroyo said. “The more experience they get, the better. Tonight was a good result, it gave them confidence.”
LBSU hosts No. 10 San Diego State tomorrow at 1 p.m.