Bakersfield, Calif. - The No. 20 Pacific women's water polo team grabbed a pair of victories on the final day of action at the Roadrunner Invitational on Sunday, Mar. 10. The Tigers defeated Bucknell 11-5 in a morning contest. The Tigers earned the Invitational title with an afternoon 10-9 overtime victory over Cal State Bakersfield. Pacific improved to 14-6 after going 4-0 at the tournament.
Game 1
Pacific 11 - Bucknell 5
Sophomore Taylor Adair scored a pair goals in the first three minutes, as the Tigers opened up a 3-0 lead. Sophomore Brydie Pye and junior Elise Martin added goals as Pacific led 5-0 after the first period.
Offensive firepower and great defense set the tone, as the Tigers added a pair of goals in the second quarter. Freshman Gracie Smith scored her second goal and sophomore Crystal Villanueva tallied score to make it 7-0. Bucknell's Julianne Valdes scored with one second left to make it 7-1 at the halftime break.
Junior Malena Prlain scored a pair of goals in the third quarter as Pacific extended its lead to 9-1, then matched goals with Bucknell to end the third period with an 11-3 lead. The Bison added a pair of goals in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers cruised to the victory.
Adair, Prlain, Smith and Villanueva each scored a pair of goals for the Tigers. Junior goalkeeper Michele Relton had 11 saves in the cage for Pacific.
Game 2
Pacific 10 - Cal State Bakersfield 9 (OT)
In the final game of the Roadrunner Invitational, Pacific had quite a contest with the host. The Tigers fell behind 1-0, but evened it up at the 3:30 mark with a goal from Martin. Prlain gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead a minute later and Adair would make it 3-2 as she found the net with just :10 seconds left in the period.
The match became a defensive battle in the second quarter, as Relton had five of her 13 saves in the period and each team scored just once. Smith scored just over a minute into the quarter, but Nicola Barrett scored for the Roadrunners with two minutes left to make it a 4-3 Pacific lead at the break.
Smith scored again to make it 5-3 just over two minutes into the third period, Pye gave the Tigers a 6-4 edge with 3:04 to play. CSUB scored the next two goals, as Barrett evened the match at 6-6 with :27 seconds left.
Niki De Leon scored to make it three straight for the Roadrunners, giving CSUB a 7-6 lead. The Tigers then scored two in a row, as Martin and sophomore Noelle Mann gave Pacific an 8-7 lead with 3:55 to play in regulation. The Roadrunners evened it up at 8-8, but Pye came up big with a goal at just :52 seconds to play. Janelle Shelby then scored with :20 seconds to go, to knot it up at 9-9. The Tigers could not score in the final possession as the teams headed to overtime.
Smith struck again for the Tigers, with 2:03 left in the first overtime period to give Pacific a 10-9 lead. Both overtime periods were keyed by defense, as the only goal was Smith's game-winning tally.
No. 20 Pacific 11, Bucknell 5
Pacific 5 – 2 – 4 – 0 –– 11
Wagner 0 – 1 – 2 – 2 –– 5
Goals
Pacific – Adair 2, Prlain 2, Smith 2, Villanueva 2, Pye, Martin, Carter
Bucknell - Sunday 2, Peterson, Ferry, Valdes
Goalkeeper Saves
Pacific – Relton 11
Bucknell - Helm 9
No. 20 Pacific 10, Cal State Bakersfield 9 (OT)
Pacific 3 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 1 – 0 –– 10
CSUB 2 – 1 – 3 – 3 – 0 – 0 –– 9
Goals
Pacific – Smith 3, Pye 2, Martin 2, Adair, Prlain, Mann
CSUB - Sunday 2, Peterson, Ferry, Valdes
Goalkeeper Saves
Pacific – Relton 13
CSUB - Bayer 17
