Box Score: Santa Clara 7, Sonoma State 4

HAYWARD, Calif- After leading 2-1 early in the second quarter, the Sonoma State women's water polo team surrendered four unanswered goals to Santa Clara over a six minute span and was unable to overcome a three goal deficit later on, falling 7-4 in the opening round of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championship Tournament at Chabot College in Hayward.

The No. 6 seed Seawolves drop to 8-28 this season and will play in a consolation game on Saturday at 3 p.m. They will take on the winner of Cal State San Bernardino and another team to be named later, which will face off on Saturday monring at 9 a.m. The No. 3 seed Broncos improve to 14-18 and will face the winner of UC San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield in one of two semifinal games on Saturday.

After falling behind 1-0 after one quarter of play, Sonoma State got two quick goals -- one by Bridgette Souza and the other by Jessica Stansfield. However, the Broncos would knot the game at 2-2 just before half time and would go on to score three more goals in the third period to lead 5-2.

The Seawolves wouldn't go down without a fight, though, as Natalie Del Carlo and Lindsay Rangel netted goals within two minutes of each other to cut the Santa Clara lead to just one at 5-4, but the third-seeded Broncos pulled away with two goals in the final 5:49 to defeat SSU.

Santa Clara was led by the four combined goals of Caitlin Espe and Taylor Harkins -- each netted two. Taylor Basso made six saves in the contest while SCU's Wren White made ten saves in the cage.