No. 8 Women’s Water Polo Falls To No. 4 California At Home

Wednesday, March 25

Long Beach, Calif.

4 p.m.

Long Beach State University

13-10, 4-1

California

13-3, 3-1

California

Long Beach State

No. 8 Women’s Water Polo Falls To No. 4 California At Home

3/25/2026 5:34:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

Goalkeeper Polina Synytsia made 13 saves in the loss.

By: Luiza Moraes - Athletic Communication Assistant

LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 8 Long Beach State battled the whole game, but a strong second period by No. 4 California gave the visitors the edge to take an 11-6 win over the Beach at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Wednesday afternoon.

Long Beach State (13-10, 4-1 Big West) started strong on defense with Polina Synytsia recording six saves in the first period. The Beach got on the board with two power-play goals from Chiara Amoroso and Lucy Miszewski, opening a 2-0 lead. Synytsia stopped a five-meter attempt, but California (13-3, 3-1 MPSF) added one late in the period to trail 2-1.

The Golden Bears answered back with a strong second quarter, shutting down Long Beach State and scoring four unanswered goals to take a 5-2 lead at halftime.

Long Beach State cut the margin early in the third period with Elisa Portillo and Elyana Goren to make it 5-4 with 4:54 left. The Golden Bears answered with back-to-back counters to extend the lead to 7-4. Brooklyn Plomp's late power-play goal kept the Beach in reach, but a buzzer-beater goal by Abbie Magee put the Bears up 8-5 with one quarter left.

Both teams traded goals in the fourth as Portillo added her second of the day, but Cal found its rhythm and stopped the Beach to score two unanswered and take the 11-6 win at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center.

Synytsia closed the game with 13 saves, while Elisa Portillo added a pair of goals and assists on the day.

The Beach will face next No. 25 CSUN on Saturday at Noon for Big West play, with live stats provided through TheFOSH.net.