April 18, 2009
BERKELEY - The No. 5 California women's water polo team sealed its 2009 regular season with a 15-10 win over nonconference opponent Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday evening at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Golden Bears now stand at 30-6 overall while the Roadrunners fall to 17-13.
"It's the last home game of the regular season and everybody has contributed all season," California head coach Richard Corso said. "It was good to get everyone involved in the match."
The teams got to a quick start, each scoring once in the first 65 seconds of play - Cal's freshman driver Emily Csikos scored first and CSUB's Amanda Ortiz responded with a goal of her own. Cal's senior two-meter defender Paige Lorenz was next to score with a lob shot just under the five-minute mark, to bring the score to 2-1. Alyson Moss tied the game at two all with a shot from 10 meters out.
Junior utility Camille Hewko earned a five-meter shot for the Bears, which junior driver Meghan Corso converted with a skip shot to put Cal up, 3-2. Csikos scored her second goal of the game with 1:38 to play in the first period with Corso assisting. Ortiz took a five-meter penalty shot for the Roadrunners to bring the tally to 4-3.
Kellie Goodwin tied the game for the final time with a goal 1:12 into the second stanza, knotting it at 4-4. Csikos started a scoring run for the Bears with a powerful shot on a six-on-five. Next, junior utility Stephanie Schnugg scored as the second drained on the shot clock. Kaitlin Torres got on the board with the assist coming from Moss. Freshman two-meter defender Athina Vazeos scored in set, thanks to a pass from junior utility Julie Oreglia, to send Cal into the halftime break with a 5-7 lead.
The Bears opened the second half with a 3-0 scoring run started by junior driver Remy Champion, who lobbed it in on an assist from Oreglia. Hewko scored with a backhand goal as Oreglia came in for her third assist of the game. Csikos notched her fourth goal after Oreglia passed cross the pool to her to distance Cal, 10-5. Moss skipped in a shot with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter to bring CSUB within four, 10-6.
Cal started the final quarter in regular fashion with a three-goal run. Lorenz kick-started things with a lob shot after Oreglia passed her the ball. Hewko pushed a shot in off an assist from Csikos. Schnugg was triple-teamed in front of the goal but still managed to score with 4:29 left on the game clock.
Becky Seelos scored the Roadrunners' first goal of the quarter, three minutes into the period, bringing the score to 13-7 still in favor of the Bears. It was then Schnugg's turn for a backhand goal. Petra Koudelkova skipped a goal in and a minute later, freshman Jessica Robinson put one through to bring the score to 15-8. With 16 seconds left in regulation, Seelos scored what everyone thought would be the final goal. However, with five seconds on the game clock, goalkeeper Victoria Campbell launched one past Cal keeper Lauren Burke to seal the decision, 15-10.
Score by period 1 2 3 4 F
No. 14 CSUB 3 2 1 4 10
No. 5 Cal 4 3 3 5 15
CSUB goals: Alyson Moss 2, Amanda Ortiz 2, Becky Seelos 2, Victoria Campbell 1, Kellie Goodwin 1, Petra Koudelkova 1, Kaitlin Torres 1
Cal goals: Emily Csikos 4, Stephanie Schnugg 3, Camille Hewko 2, Paige Lorenz 2, Remy Champion 1, Meghan Corso 1, Jessica Robinson 1, Athina Vazeos 1
CSUB saves: Victoria Campbell 6
Cal saves: Stephanie Peckham 10, Lauren Burke 1
