Women’s Water Polo Drops Two Games Against Top 10 Competition On Day One Of The Cal Cup

Saturday, January 25

Berkeley, Calif.

10:30 a.m.

Long Beach State University

Fresno State

Long Beach State

Fresno State

Photo by: Luiza Moraes

Women’s Water Polo Drops Two Games Against Top 10 Competition On Day One Of The Cal Cup

1/25/2025 5:01:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Martina Cardona led the Beach on offense with six goals while Charlotte Echlin made a career high 12 saves.

By: Luiza Moraes - Athletic Communication Assistant

BERKELEY, Calif. – No. 8 Long Beach State opened the first day Cal Cup against top competition on Saturday. The Beach dropped an overtime battle against No.9 Fresno State, 15-14 (OT) and battled defending National Champions No. 1 UCLA but fell 12-7. Leading the offense was senior Martina Cardona with six goals on the day and sophomore Charlotte Echlin had a career high of 12 saves against the Bulldogs.

The Beach (2-2) opened the day against No. 9 Fresno State. The Bulldogs scored first opening things at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. Senior Martina Cardona scored her first of the day to tie things for Long Beach State. Fresno State responded quickly but a counterattack by Grace Cuozzo would tie the game one more time. A well-executed extra man play by Cardona gave the Beach the lead with under a minute left but the Bulldogs answered back with two seconds left in the quarter and tied the game, 3-3.

The Bulldogs (3-2) started the second quarter with a quick goal to take back the lead. Freshman Rita Gurri Capel netted one to tie the game for the fourth time. Sophomore Charlotte Echlin stopped a penalty shot attempt by Fresno State and Gurri Capel added her second in the quarter to give the Beach the lead for the second time in the game. Two back-to-back goals by the Bulldogs would put the Beach trailing by one at halftime.

The second half continued to see a lot of action from both teams. Fresno State extended their lead on a penalty shot in the first play of the quarter. Junior Elisa Portillo added her first goal of the weekend on a no-look shot in extra player situation and Cardona tied the game in another 6-on-5 play to complete her hat trick. The Beach and the Bulldogs traded goals one more time with freshman Brooklyn Plomp tying the game one more time, 8-8. To close the third quarter, Fresno State went on a three-goal run to lead 11-8.

Three straight goals by the Beach tied the game with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Freshman Daniela Quinzada Gonzalez got her first one and Portillo and Plomp added their second goals of the day. The Bulldogs took the lead again with 1:37 left on an extra player situation. With 26 left, Cardona netted her fourth goal of the game and tied the game one more time, 12-12. Fresno State had the chance to score but stopped on Quinzada Gonzalez block and the game went into overtime.

In the first overtime period the Bulldogs took the lead, but Portillo's hat trick tied things all over again. Fresno State answered back to regain the lead one more time in the game and head into the second period of overtime up 14-13.

Portillo's fourth goal tied the game with 1:40 left. After a time out, the Bulldogs added their last goal to defeat the Beach, 15-14. Goalkeeper Charlotte Echlin finished the game with a career-high of 12 saves against the Bulldogs.

The second match of the day saw the Beach facing defending National Champions, UCLA. The Beach got to a quick start scoring two quick goals under two minutes of play with Martina Cardona and Rita Gurri Capel getting on the board. The Bruins (2-0) answered back with three straight goals to take the lead 3-2 with 3:35 left on the first quarter. Sophomore Chiara Amoroso scored one with just a minute left in the quarter to tie the game.

UCLA opened the second period with a 4-0 run, leaving the Beach unanswered for over seven minutes before graduate student Amanda Price scored on an empty net at the end of the quarter, cutting the Bruins lead to three.

At the second half, UCLA added one more to extend their lead, but Gaby Patenuede answered back on a rebound. The Beach struggled on their extra player situations in the game, not converting any in the first 24 minutes of the game. The Bruins added one more at end of the quarter as the Beach trailed 9-5.

Senior Martina Cardona added one at the start of the last quarter as the Beach scored their first powerplay goal of the game to cut the Bruins lead. UCLA scored back-to-back goals before Gurri Capel added her second of the game as the Bruins led 11-7 with under two minutes left in the match. UCLA scored one more to close the game 12-7. Senior Chelsea Oliver collected nine saves in the loss.

The Beach is back in action on Sunday for the second day of the Cal Cup. At 9:30 a.m. Long Beach State will face the hosts California and at 2:30 p.m. will play Stanford. Both matches will have livestream from overnight.com and live stats can be followed on scores.6-8sports.com.