No. 12 Long Beach State Pushes No. 3 Fresno State To Overtime On Day Two Of The Barbara Kalbus Invite

Saturday, February 24

Irvine, Calif.

10:30 a.m.

Long Beach State University

8-4

Hawai'i

10-1

Long Beach State

Hawai'i

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 12 Long Beach State Pushes No. 3 Fresno State To Overtime On Day Two Of The Barbara Kalbus Invite

2/24/2024 6:02:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

A massive fourth-quarter comeback against the Bulldogs pushed the game to overtime, but Fresno State ultimately prevailed.

By: Nicole Hoff, Athletic Communications Assistant

IRVINE, Calif. – No. 12 Long Beach State gave their all against two Top 3 opponents, pushing No. 3 Fresno State to overtime while competing in the winner's side of the Barbara Kalbus Invite, but ultimately lost two against No. 2 Hawai'i and the Bulldogs.

Their first match of the day was against fellow Big West competitor, Hawaii. Hawai'i would score first to start the game, but Anne de Kleer would respond with a goal of her own on a penalty shot. Lara Luka added two goals of her own, but the Beach would end the first period trailing by two.

Hawaii came out with four early goals in the second period to extend their lead to six. Kathryn McCullough found the back of the end for the only goal for the Beach for the quarter as they entered halftime down 11-4.

The Beach came out firing to start the second half as Grace Cuozzo found the cage for a goal. Luka would score her third goal of the game for Long Beach State, but the Beach would be outscored by Hawai'i and trail 15-6.

Both teams exchanged shots to start the first half of the final period before the Rainbow Wahines added two to their score. Rachael Kowalchick scored back-to-back goals, but ultimately Hawaii would take the game 17-8.

In the second game of the day against No. 3 Fresno State, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. de Kleer struck first for the Beach on a five meter attempt. Elisa Portillo scored her first goal with the assist from Luka on a power play. Fresno State added one more goal to bring their lead to two at the end of the first period.

Rachael Kowalchick scored the first Beach goal of the second period at 4:26 as Chiara Amoroso is credited with the assist. The Beach defense held the Bulldogs to two goals for the second quarter as they headed into halftime down 6-3.

To start the third period, an exclusion drawn by Cuozzo led to a power play goal for Portillo to bring the Beach within two. Luka found the cage in a five-meter attempt, but the Bulldogs matched Beach with two more goals to keep the lead at three heading into the final quarter.

The Beach turned it up a notch and made some big plays to start the fourth quarter. Goalie, Chelsea Olivier, had two passes that led to goals for Martina and Cardona and Anne de Kleer and a save that led to another goal for McCullough to tie the game. A goal from the Bulldogs and from Portillo for the Beach to send the game into overtime, tied at 9-9.

In overtime, both defenses came up with some big plays, but the Bulldogs added three goals to their score to take the win 12-9.

The Beach will play their final game of the Barbara Kalbus Sunday, February 25th at 9:00 a.m. against No. 10 UC Irvine. Beach fans can follow along at thefosh.net.