By In the final home game of the careers of several Long Beach State women’s water polo seniors, No. 6 LBSU (13-10) fell to the No. 1 Stanford University Cardinal 11-3 at the Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Sunday.
“I think we sometimes learn more from the games we lose, because we can reflect on every aspect where we can be better, and that’s extremely important getting ready for our conference championship,” LBSU head coach Shana Welch said.
It was an emotional day for The Beach’s leading attacker, Martina Cardona, who came into Sunday with 57 goals on the season.
She said she was overwhelmed by the love and support from her teammates during the post-game senior ceremonies.
“I’m just very happy and grateful for everyone I’ve met here who has supported me through this journey to be able to play my favorite sport here on the other side of the world,” Cardona said.
Primary goalie Chelsea Oliver, who is second in the Big West conference with 165 saves, senior defender Jamie Oberman who is third in the team in points and 2024 Academic All-Big West selection utility Amanda Price round out LBSU’s graduating seniors.
The Beach struggled to maintain possession against the Cardinal early, allowing five steals in the first quarter en route to falling into a 3-0 deficit.
Stanford redshirt senior driver Ryann Neushul was a defensive force in the first, forcing two steals and also setting up fellow redshirt senior driver Jewel Roemer with an assist for the first score of the game.
LBSU’s offensive attack continued to have nothing for Stanford sophomore goalie Christine Carpenter in the second quarter. Carpenter finished the half with three saves and no goals allowed as the Cardinal extended its lead to 5-0.
Stanford’s stifling defense was extremely physical, often bordering on fouling, as they had six exclusions in the first half to LBSU’s three.
Following a Cardinal turnover via an offensive foul, freshman Beach defender Rita Gurri Capel found junior attacker Elisa Portillo for a straight shot at the goal, getting The Beach on the scoreboard late in the third.
Gurri Capel followed that up with a successful shot from the right side on LBSU’s very next possession, creating a short spark of momentum as The Beach ended the period trailing 7-2.
The Cardinal eventually cruised to an 11-3 victory with four more goals in the fourth quarter.
It was a very balanced attack for Stanford on Sunday, with eight different players finding the back of the net. Stanford redshirt sophomore Juliette Dhalluin led the team with two goals and added two assists as well.
The Beach will next be in action in a Big West road matchup against UC Davis on April 5, before finishing their regular season at UC Irvine on April 17.
“We have the utmost confidence in this group,” Welch said. “They’ve been consistent across this last portion of the season, they’re tough and they’re gonna be ready to play for those next two.”
