SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The Sonoma State women's water polo team faced some stiff competition on the second and final day of the UCSB Winter Invite in Santa Barbara on Sunday and, as a result, suffered a pair of losses to wrap up the weekend. The Seawolves lost 12-6 to 16th-ranked Loyola Marymount before falling 16-2 to second-ranked UCLA, both of which were ranked in this week's Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 20 Coaches' Poll.
Carleigh Robinson and
Brittny Hummel scored a goal in each contest to lead SSU offensively.
Sonoma State is now 1-5 this season with three of its losses coming against nationally-ranked teams. The Seawolves will return to Southern California in two weeks (Feb. 7-8) to compete in the Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego in La Jolla. The tournament schedule is slated to be released later this week.
#16 Loyola Marymount 12, Sonoma State 6 -- Box ScoreAfter falling behind 2-0 in the first quarter, Sonoma State got on the scoreboard with a goal by Hummel, but another Loyola Marymount goal put SSU down by two. Robinson would again get the Seawolves within one goal nearly two minutes later, but LMU would score seven of the next eight goals to take a commanding 10-3 lead at the start of the fourth quarter and never looked back.
Jessica Becker,
Kaysie Lewis,
Lily Carlon and
Ellen Peterson each tallied one goal, all in the second half, to complement the goals by Hummel and Robinson in the second quarter.
Andrea Mallul played the first three quarters of the match and made five saves while
Mikayla Kloss worked the final eight minutes and made three stops.
#2 UCLA 16, Sonoma State 2 -- Box ScoreJust about two hours later, the Seawolves took to the pool against head coach
Coralie Simmons' alma mater and second-ranked UCLA. Sonoma came out strong, scoring on back-to-back possessions late in the first quarter to take a 2-1 lead, but the Bruins took over from there, scoring 15 unanswered goals to take the 16-2 win.
Robinson and Hummel each scored a goal in the loss.
