THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of La Verne women's water polo team put up good fights against Divisions I and II opponents, but fell short in all four games at the 7th annual Cal Lutheran Invitational.
Game 1: Fresno Pacific 6, La Verne 5
A three-goal Fresno Pacific second quarter proved to be the difference in the first game as La Verne lost 6-5.
Justine Mojarro opened the scoring about a minute and a half into the game, Olga Quiroz also scored one in the first quarter and the teams took a 2-2 tie into the first intermission. But Fresno Pacific opened the second quarter with two quick goals and added another late in the half to take a 5-3 lead into the break.
Sarah Jefferis and Catie Tuning each netted a goal in the second half and the Leopards shut out the Sunbirds in the fourth quarter, but the Leos could not find an equalizer.
Stephanie Tuning made six saves in goal for the Leopards.
Game 2: CSU Bakerfield 15, La Verne 5
Division I CSU Bakersfield jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back as La Verne lost 15-5 in Game 2.
Kimberly Lopez, Lora Marquez-Salgado and Quiroz each scored in the second quarter to keep the Leopards within distance, but the Roadrunners scored three goals in each of the final three quarters to pull away.
Catie Tuning added two more scores in the second half.
Bakersfield's Nikki DeLeon notched a hat trick in the first quarter alone and two other Roadrunners recorded hat tricks as well.
Game 3: Villanova 9, La Verne 3
La Verne could not get its offensive flow going against Villanova as they lost 9-3.
After going down 3-0 early, the Leopards cut the lead to 4-2 at the end of the first half on goals by Jacqueline Rojas and Marquez-Salgado, but were limited to one goal in the second half.
Catie Tuning scored the second half goal and Stephanie Tuning made four saves.
Game 4: Long Beach State 19, La Verne 2
The Leopards had their hands full against Division I No. 12 Long Beach State as they fell behind early and were unable to recover.
LBSU blitzed La Verne with four goals in the first two and a half minutes and got out to an early 5-0 lead. Catie Tuning scored on a penalty shot at the 2:15 mark in the first quarter to put the Leopards on the board, but that was all La Verne would get until late in the fourth quarter when Mojarro added a late score.
Eleven different players scored for the 49ers.
Stephanie Tuning made seven more saves for the Leopards and Catie Tuning finished with five total goals in four games.
La Verne returns to action next week at the Claremont Convergence where they will face more teams from Divisions I and II. In the first game, the Leopards will face Virginia Military Institute at 11:20 a.m. on Friday.
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