Portillo Continues To Make History As Women’s Water Polo Wins Against LMU, Falls To USC

Saturday, January 31

La Jolla, Calif.

12:30 p.m.

Long Beach State University

LMU

Loyola Marymount

Long Beach State

Photo by: Luiza Moraes

Portillo Continues To Make History As Women’s Water Polo Wins Against LMU, Falls To USC

1/31/2026 6:35:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The senior scored seven goals Saturday to tie Cassie Azevedo’s Long Beach State career record of 209 goals.

By: Luiza Moraes - Athletics Communication Assistant

LA JOLLA, Calif. – Senior Elisa Portillo paced No. 7 Long Beach State on Saturday across two games, scoring seven goals to tie the program record of 209 goals set by Cassie Azevedo.

The Beach continued to show improvement on defense and held No. 9 LMU to two goals in the second half to secure another dominant win on the season, 15-5, and move into the semifinals of the Triton Invitational, reaching the top four for the first time in recent history. Against No. 2 USC, the Beach fought hard but ultimately fell to the national champion runner-ups, 15-11.

LMU (6-2) got off to a strong start, leading 3-2 with under two minutes left in the first period after sophomore Rita Gurri added both Long Beach State (7-3) goals. A late surge by LBSU after goals from Chiara Amoroso and Elisa Portillo gave Long Beach State the first lead, 4-3, and the team never looked back.

Shutting down the Lions for over ten minutes, the Beach opened a 7-3 lead at halftime and extended it to 11-3 early in the third. Gurri and Portillo completed hat tricks while Lucy Miszweski added two for LBSU. LMU added two from Anna Tarantino, but the Beach closed the third with a comfortable 12-5 advantage.

Behind nine saves from freshman Polina Synytsia, the Beach kept the Lions scoreless for another quarter, adding three more to the tally and securing a spot in the semifinals of the tournament after a convincing 15-5 win.

In the semifinal game, the Beach opened a 3-1 lead after two goals from Portillo and one from Miszweski. The Trojans (8-0), led by Olympian Emily Ausmus, scored four unanswered goals in three minutes to take the lead, 5-3, after the first quarter.

Ausmus kept USC ahead early in the second, but sophomore Rita Gurri shortened the gap before the Trojans added two right away to extend the lead to 8-4 with four minutes left. Portillo added her third of the day, and Zelma Koka closed the margin to 8-6. Two late goals in 50 seconds put SC ahead 10-6 at halftime.

In the third period, the Trojans shut down the Beach while extending their lead to 12-6. Right off the sprint, SC scored one more, and Portillo scored her fourth to tie Cassie Azevedo's 20-year school record, but that wasn't enough to hold off the 2025 national champion runner-ups, who opened another three-goal run to secure the win. LBSU added four late goals but fell 15-11 in the semifinals of the Triton Invitational.

The Beach will close the tournament with the third-place game against No. 5 Hawai'i at 12:10 p.m. at the Canyonview Aquatics Center.