Stockton, Calif. - Anna Kertes scored five goals as the No. 15 Pacific women's water polo team defeated Cal Baptist, 12-9, to finish in Third Place at the Golden Coast Conference Championships Saturday at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.
Gracie Smith and Brydie Pye each added two goals, while Karolina Hlavata, Rachel Krieger and Ellen Tiedemann all chipped in a goal each.
Michele Relton recorded 14 saves in the cage as the Tigers finish the 2015 season at 16-10 overall, including 7-1 at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.
Meghan Rowland made eight saves for the Lancers, as Cal Baptist completes the season at 20-15. Jessica Castellano, Hannah Evans and Valerie Spezzaferri each scored twice for CBU.
CBU struck first as Raine Paul finished short side as a 6-on-5 winding down. Smith answered with a quick conversion on a 6-on-5 with the backhand from the middle. Smith spun and finished from the center for a 2-1 Pacific lead with 3:34 to go in the first.
Hlavata found Kertes in the center, and Kertes tapped the pass into the lower left corner of the net with the one-timer goal. Brydie Pye finished just after a 6-on-5 ended from six meters out, as Rowland got a piece of the shot with her right hand, but the ball carried over the line, giving the Tigers a 4-1 lead after one quarter.
In the second period, Krieger ripped him a shot from distance to the upper right corner for a four-goal lead. Kertes finished a lob over Rowland cross-cage as the Tigers stretched the lead to 6-1.
CBU picked up a goal from Jessica Castellano, and after Relton was excluded charging out to break up a transition swim out by the Lancers, Megan Torre posted a huge field block in the goal mouth to preserve the lead by defending the left post.
Hannah Evans, the leading goal scorer in the conference, finally got on the board against Pacific (after the Tigers shut her out in the regular season meeting), but Hlavata answered immediately on the other end for a 7-3 Pacific lead. Valerie Spezzaferri cut the Tigers' lead to three before halftime with a goal at the 2:31 mark.
In the third quarter, Evans charged in with a transition skip shot for a goal, but Kertes answered, finishing a five-meter penalty to the lower right side. After a stop by Relton, Kertes lobbed a cross-cage goal to the far post for a 9-5 lead.
Kertes struck again, ripping a cross-cage shot off the far post and in for a five-goal lead and her fifth goal of game. Castellano answered for CBU, finishing to the near post. Courtney Menard pulled the Lancers within 10-7 before the end of the third, scoring just after a 6-on-5 expired.
Ellen Tiedemann curled a shot just inside the near post from a sharp angle, spinning the ball in for an 11-7 lead. Mallory Montano answered back, powering a shot through the arms of Relton on the near side.
Relton found Pye in transition, and Pye out-raced Rowland to the ball and finished over the keeper for a four-goal lead with 3:44 to go.
The Tigers subbed in the bench and allowed just a late goal from Spezzaferri to close the game with a 12-9 victory.
