SAN BERNARDINO -- The 2013 season got off to a good start for the Occidental College women's water polo team, as the Tigers defeated Cal State San Bernardino and Fresno Pacific on Saturday at the Coyote Mini-Tournament.
Led by some dominant goalie play from Rachel Adeleye (Elizabeth N.J.), Oxy hung on to knock off NCAA Division II CSU San Bernardino, 10-8, in the team's first game of the day.
Four different Tigers scored multiple goals in the game with Nanea Fujiyama's (Honolulu) hat trick leading the way. Kelsey Shyba (Los Gatos), Katie Gibbs (Orinda) and Danielle Garcia (Houston, TX) each chipped in with two scores.
Oxy looked like they'd pull away for good after scoring the first two goals of the third quarter to make it 8-0, but the host Coyotes came storming back.
Oxy looked like it had the game easily in hand when it jumped out to a 6-0 halftime lead and 8-0 lead through three quarters. But the Coyotes cam storming back to make it more interesting than the Tigers would have liked.
"We completely controlled it early on, but they stole the momentum and really outplayed us down the stretch," Occidental water polo coach Larry Zubrin said. "What I really like though, was how we maintained our composure and did what we needed to do to get the win."
FINAL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL
Occidental 2 4 3 1 10
CSUSB 0 0 4 4 8
GOALS/Attempts: Fujiyama-3/6, Garcia-2/5, Shyba-2/5, Gibbs-2/2, Albino-1/2, Gill-0/3, Soot-0/3, Martinez-0/2
ASSISTS: Garcia-4, Shyba-2, Adeleye-1, Albino-1, Gill-1
STEALS: Garcia-5, Adleye-4, Gibbs-4, Fujiyama-3, Albino-1, Gill-1, Shyba-1, McClafferty-1
SAVES/Goals Allowed: Adeleye-7/0, Perez-3/8
Exclusions/Penalty: Occidental-7, CSUSB-7
In their second game of the day, the Tigers started slowly but finished strong in an 11-5 win over Fresno Pacific University.
Seven different Tigers got in on the scoring with Fujiyama once again leading the attack with four goals.
Oxy let some opportunities get away in the first half, but ramped up the defense to make up for it in the second.
"We missed some opportunities early on and they took advantage of those mistakes to keep it close," Zubrin said. "Fortunately, we never lost confidence and in the second half, we were able to use our depth and speed to pull away.
"All in all, it was a very good start for us. We recognized some things we need to continue working on, but the main thing was our ability to stay focused throughout both games and rely on our strengths to get a couple of nice wins."
The Tigers return to action with a double header next Saturday at the Lancer Invitational in Riverside. Oxy faces Division II Azusa Pacific University, followed by a match against Division I Long Beach State. Both games will be held at Cal Baptist University.
FINAL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL
Occidental 3 1 3 4 11
FPU 2 1 1 1 5
GOALS/Attempts: Fujiyama-4/6, Shyba-2/2, Gill-1/2, Soot-1/2, McClafferty-1/3, Albino-1/3, Garcia-1/4, Gibbs-0/5
ASSISTS: Garcia-3, Gibbs-2, Albino-1, Gill-1, Munoz-1
STEALS: Fujiyama-4, Soot-2, Garcia-2, Albino-2, Adeleye-2, Shyba-1, Gill-1, Martinez-1
SAVES/Goals Allowed: Adeleye-6/3, Munoz-3/2
Exclusions/Penalties-Occidental-3, FPU-6
