Feb. 18, 2007

Bakersfield, Calif. The Pacific women's water polo picked up their first win of the 2007 season, defeating Cal State East Bay by the score of 16-13 at the Roadrunner Invitational in Bakersfield, Calif.

With the win, the Tigers improve to 1-4 on the season, while the Pioneers fall to 3-6.

The Tigers ended a 34 game losing streak with the victory, as the programs last win dated back to April 16th, 2005 when they defeated UC San Diego by the score of 11-9.

The Tigers started the game with a penalty shot less than two minutes in as freshman Sarah Harris (Cape Town, South Africa) took advantage of a drawn five-meter by finding the back of the cage to make the score 1-0. After a Pioneer goal, Pacific answered right back as redshirt junior Virginia McConnell (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) scored, and Harris followed with her second goal of the period to make the score 3-1 after one period.

In the second period, after a Cal State East Bay goal made the score 3-2, McConnell tallied her second goal of the game on a set piece by coach Megan Thomson following a timeout to make the score 4-2. With the score 4-3, freshman Kelsey Morino (Corona, Calif.) scored to give the Tigers a two goal lead, by the Pioneers answered right back to make the score 5-4. Again, Pacific fought back as junior Kellie Fletcher (Roseville, Calif.) scored to give the Tigers back a two goal cushion at 6-4. But the back and forth action continued as, after an East Bay goal made the score 6-5, Fletcher found the back of the cage again for her second goal of the period with :57 seconds left to push the Tigers advantage back to two goals at 7-5. But another Pioneer answer came just :10 seconds later, making the score 7-6 Tigers at the half.

Pacific came out of the second half firing on all cylinders as they scored the first four goals of the third period to blow the game open. Fletcher scored two more goals in the first minute of the period, giving her a stretch of four straight Pacific goals to make the score 9-6. Then, sophomore Catrina Nishimura (Stockton, Calif.) and Harris scored in succession midway through the period to give the Tigers an 11-6 advantage.

Not to be outdone, Cal State East Bay scored three straight goals, including the last goal of the third period and the first two goals of the fourth period to make the score 11-9. Pacific then went on a scoring streak of its own as Harris scored back-to-back goals to again push the Tiger advantage to four at 13-9. The Pioneers still would not go away however, answering back with two more goals to make the score 13-11. The answer for the Tigers this time came from freshman Jessica Safir (Los Gatos, Calif.), who combined with Harris for goals on consecutive possessions to give the Tigers back a four goal advantage at 15-11 with 2:01 left to play. Following an East Bay goal, freshman Alex Kutac (Houston, Texas) scored to account for the final Pacific goal before the Pioneers added another late goal to make the final count 16-13.

Harris ended the game with six goals for the Tigers, while Fletcher added four and McConnell added two.

The goals in the game by Kutac and Safir marked their first career goals, while Nishimura's goal was her first of the season and second of her career.

Cal State East Bay's Jeanette Demeneces scored four goals, while Laura Demeneces added three for the Pioneers.

Pacific: 3-4-4-5 = 16
Cal State East Bay: 1-5-1-6 = 13

Goals:
Pacific: Harris 6 (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19), Fletcher 4 (6, 7, 8, 9), McConnell 2 (6, 7), Kutac (1), Morino (2), Nishimura (1), Safir (1)
Cal State East Bay: Jeanette Demeneces 4, Laura Demeneces 3, Bourne 3, Olejnik, Snyder, Melendez

Blocks: Gray (PAC) 5, Hauck (PAC) 4