By The Long Beach State women’s water polo team went 4-0 in the Aztec Invitational this past weekend at San Diego State.
Long Beach (10-10) defeated Fresno Pacific 21-4 Sunday in the afternoon match, after beating UC San Diego 5-1 earlier in the day.
Freshman attacker Camille Gallardo-Russell led the 49ers with five goals against Fresno Pacific, while freshmen defender Sarah Barker and attacker Gabriella Matafora-Adams each had three goals. Freshman attacker Orsi Hertzka, sophomore utility Ariana Honka and senior defender Annabel Harman each scored twice for Long Beach, and junior utility Maria Eleni Mimidi, freshman attacker Katie Dill, sophomore attacker Olivia Grim and junior center Paige Bennett each contributed one goal.
The 49ers were in little to no danger against the Sunbirds, as they led 4-0 after the first quarter and 9-2 at halftime. The 21 goals were the most the 49ers have scored this season.
Against UC San Diego, Long Beach’s win avenged a 9-6 loss earlier in the season, and the win marked the fewest goals the 49ers allowed this season. Mimidi and Dill each had two goals against UCSD while Barker added one.
The 49ers led 1-0 after the first quarter and 2-1 at halftime, and didn’t allow another goal from the Tritons in the second half.
Long Beach began the Aztec Invitational with a 7-6 win over host school San Diego State and followed that up with a 17-4 win over St. Francis (PA).
Against the Aztecs, Hertzka led Long Beach with two goals while senior attacker Tori Morrissey, Barker, Harman, Matafora-Adams and Bennett added one goal apiece.
Long Beach led 1-0 at the end of the first quarter, but was tied 2-2 at halftime. Despite the Aztecs’ resilient efforts, the 49ers led 5-4 after three quarters and hung on to win 7-6 thanks to goals from Matafora-Adams and Barke in the fourth quarter.
Against St.Francis, Matafora-Adams led Long Beach with four goals while Hetzka and Mimidi each had three goals. Harman and Bennett each had two goals for Long Beach, which got one goal apiece from redshirt freshman attacker Aleah Watkins, sophomore utility Katelyn Johnson and Morrissey.
The win against the Red Flash marked the second time the 49ers were victorious over the Pennsylvania based team this season. The 49ers beat the Red Flash by the exact same score last Sunday in the Wolverine Invite in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Going into the Aztec Invitational, Hetzka led Long Beach with 41 goals on 42 shot attempts, while Mimidi has 20. Morrissey and Grim each had 18 goals on the season while Harman and Barker had 17 and 15.
Long Beach returns to the pool 7 p.m. Thursday when it hosts Bucknell for the home opener.
