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Sonoma State University Athletics

Jessica Stansfield

Women's Water Polo

Stansfield Leads Seawolves To Comeback Win Over Pioneers

Sophomore Jessica Stansfield scored all of her team-high four goals in the second half of Friday's victory.
Sonoma State 13, Cal State East Bay 10 -- Box Score

HAYWARD, Calif. -- All-American Jessica Stansfield matched a career-high, scoring four goals -- all in the second half -- to lead the Sonoma State women's water polo team to an exciting come-from-behind 13-10 victory over Cal State East Bay on a warm Friday afternoon at Pioneer Pool in Hayward.  The Seawolves, who are off to their best start since 2006, improve to 3-4 overall and 2-1 against Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) opponents.  It was the first match of the season for the Pioneers (0-1).

The win by SSU ends a seven-match losing streak against CSUEB, dating back to the start of the 2010 season.  It was also the first home loss for the Pioneers since Jan. 21, 2011, which snaps their 14-match home win streak.

Trailing 5-3 going into the second half of play, Sonoma State caught fire offensively, caging 10 balls in the final 14:30 of the contest to whisk past Cal State East Bay.  In fact, the Seawolves held the Pioneers to just one goal in the third period, outscoring the hosts 5-1 to turn a 5-3 deficit into an 8-6 lead with eight minutes left in regulation.

Both teams would trade goal-scoring possessions at the start of the fourth quarter with CSUEB coming to within one goal on three different occasions, but with a slim 10-9 lead, Lindsay Rangel, Brittny Hummel and Stansfield would score three of the next four goals of the match to secure its second conference win of the season (and third overall).

Hummel scored three goals on the day to compliment the four goals by Stansfield.  Rangel threw in two scores while Adrienne Bisharat, Nicole Browning, Noelle Herrera and Jessica Becker all tallied one goal apiece in the victory.  Ariel Lockshaw made six saves in the cage for the Seawolves.

Cal State East Bay was led offensively by the five goals of Claire Pierce.

It was the first win earned in regulation for SSU, which grabbed victories over Cal State Monterey Bay (Jan. 18) and No. 18 Cal Baptist (Jan. 26) in overtime.

Sonoma State will head to the Canyonview Aquatic Center at UC San Diego in La Jolla next weekend (Feb. 9-10) to compete in the Triton Invitational.  A schedule of the tournament has yet to be released.