BERKELEY, Calif. - The No. 9 Fresno State water polo team split the opening day of the Cal Cup on Saturday, defeating No. 8 Long Beach State and falling to No. 4 Cal. The Bulldogs opened the day with an overtime win over LBSU, 15-14. The 'Dogs later fell to Cal, 17-10.
Brooke Ochoa led the 'Dogs with seven goals in two games with four against LBSU and three against Cal.
How it Happened vs No. 8 Long Beach State
Fresno State upset LBSU to open the day. The teams saw a back-and-forth first quarter, ending in a tie at three apiece. Fresno State had goals from Abbey Simshauser, Ashley Williams and Hailey Andress in the opening quarter.
In the first possession of the second quarter, Andress netted another but LBSU evened the score again on its next possession and took the lead on a 6-on-5 opportunity shortly after. Ochoa hit Caitlyn Mossman at center to tie the game at five each with 2:01 remaining before the half. Kira Anderson found Andress open on a powerplay chance and Fresno State went into halftime with a 6-5 lead.
Williams drew a penalty early in the third, and Andress converted the penalty shot to extend the lead to two goals. At the 4:44 mark, the Beach tied the score again at seven each. Marit van der Kolk got on the board, but LBSU responded quickly to knot it up at eight. Fresno State scored three unanswered to end the quarter behind two from Ochoa and an additional from Simshauser. Fresno State led 11-8 at the end of the third.
LBSU scored three unanswered to open the final quarter. Anderson hit Williams on a 6-on-5 opportunity to put the 'Dogs up one with 1:37 remaining in regulation. With 26 seconds left on the clock, Long Beach State tied the game yet again at 12. Anderson had one last shot in regulation, but the Beach defense was able to hold off and force overtime.
At the end of the first overtime, the Bulldogs were up 14-13 behind a pair of goals by Ochoa.
With 1:42 left in the second overtime, LBSU knotted things up again at 14. In the final possession, senior Elisa Grim called game off the assist from Megan Cranley.
Islay Martin-Hill had four saves and two steals in game one.
How it Happened vs No. 4 Cal
Fresno State came out firing, making the first shot attempt but missed. The Bears did score on their opening possession to take an early 1-0 lead. Anderson found Ochoa on Fresno State's first score of the game to tie it at one with 6:24 remaining in the first. Cal scored three unanswered to close out the first quarter with a 4-1 lead.
Cal added one more to the run as the second opened up. Marit van der Kolk ended the run by the Bears, scoring on a 6-on-5 advantage. Cal went on to score three unanswered to extend its lead to six, 8-2.
Susanna Martinez ended the run with her first goal of the day on a powerplay chance. Ochoa ended the quarter to put Fresno State within four, 8-4, at halftime.
Cal scored two-straight out of the halftime break. Ochoa kept the Bulldogs alive with her third goal of the game at the 6:06 mark. The Bears scored another three unanswered to extend their lead to eight, 13-5. The Cal run came to an end when Megan Cranley hit Williams in center with 2:40 remaining in the third. The teams traded goals in the final minutes of the period, including the first career goal from freshman Alexandra Schow. Fresno State trailed 14-7 headed into the fourth.
The Bulldogs scored three in the final quarter, but the Cal lead was too much to overcome. Anderson, Andress and Martinez found the back of the net in the fourth quarter.
Up Next
Fresno State will wrap up action at the Cal Cup tomorrow with an exhibition against USA Academy and a meeting with No. 1 UCLA at 4 p.m.
There will be no live stream or stats available for the exhibition, but live scoring and a stream for the match with UCLA can be found here.