Women’s Water Polo Splits Two On Day Two Of The Triton Invite

Saturday, February 1

La Jolla, Calif.

12:30 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC Irvine

Long Beach State

UC Irvine

Photo by: Luiza Moraes

Women’s Water Polo Splits Two On Day Two Of The Triton Invite

2/1/2025 6:19:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Beach will play for 5th place in the tournament.

By: Luiza Moraes - Athletic Communication Assistant

LA JOLLA, Calif. – No. 10 Long Beach State split two games on the second day of competition in San Diego. The Beach started the day facing No. 6 UC Irvine and falling short against the 'Eaters, 15-12. LBSU bounced back to close the day with a win against the hosts, No. 15 UC San Diego, defeating the Tritons, 10-9.

The Beach (4-5) got on the board first against the Anteaters (3-2) with freshman Brooklyn Plomp scoring her first of the day. UCI answered back with four straight goals to open a three-goal lead. Plomp added another one to shorten the lead and a late goal by senior Amanda Price closed the first quarter with the Beach trailing 5-3.

Senior Martina Cardona added one to start the second on a penalty shot. Back-to-back goals by the 'Eaters extended the lead to 7-4 with six minutes left at half. Freshman Daniela Quinzada Gonzalez got on the board for the Beach, but UCI answered back to keep the four-goal lead. Price added her second of the game as UC Irvine led Long Beach State at half, 9-6.

A four-goal run by UCI gave them the 13-6 lead with three minutes left on the third. Two late goals by the Beach by Elisa Portillo and Quinzada Gonzalez shorten the lead with eight minutes left.

The last quarter saw the Anteaters scoring two back-to-back goals to lead 15-8 with under six minutes left. The Beach added four straight goals with Hailey Multz, Rita Gurri Capel, Gaby Patenuede and Jermonie Billingsly all scoring their first goals of the day to cut UCI's lead, but the rally felt short as the Beach dropped 15-12 to UC Irvine.

After a few hours, the Beach faced the hosts UC San Diego for the last game of the day. Senior Jamie Oberman put the Beach on the board first with just 25 seconds. The Tritons (4-5) answered back to tie the game. Sophomore Chiara Amoroso added one on the powerplay before UCSD tied the game one more time. Martina Cardona added another one on the day as the Beach closed the first quarter up 3-2.

Zelma Koka and Amanda Price added one each to extend the Beach lead on the second quarter, 5-2 with three minutes left. UCSD added one to close the gap but Oberman's second of the game gave the Beach the 6-3 lead at halftime.

Four unanswered goals gave the Beach the largest lead over the Tritons, leading 10-3 with under four minutes left in the quarter. Elisa Portillo, Martina Cardona, Rita Gurri Capel and Gaby Patenuede all added one in the quarter. The Tritons added one goal to shorten the lead before the final eight minutes.

On the final eight minutes, the Tritons completed a 6-0 run to close the gap against the Beach. UCSD's last goal came with three seconds left as their comeback fell short with the Beach taking the 10-9 win. Senior Chelsea Oliver collected 12 saves for the Beach with a 57% save percentage.

The Beach will face the winner of Fresno State and UC Davis to close the Triton Invite on Sunday at 10:50 a.m. at the Canyonview Aquatic Center for the fifth-place game of the tournament.