LONG BEACH, CA – At the 24th Annual Battle at the Beach, the SBCC women's water polo won three of four games.
The Vaqueros (20-5) defeated Palomar 15-5 and tournament host Long Beach 9-3 on Friday. They would go into overtime in both contests the following day, falling to Fullerton 5-4 before beating Riverside 10-9.
SBCC 15, Palomar 5
Goalscorers: Mancinelli (3), Tal (3), Olson (2), Hughes (2), Daland, Prado ,Turnbull, Nichols, Straley
Saves: McKay (4), Donleavy (5)
The Vaqueros opened things up with a double-digit win over Palomar, going up 13-2 early in the third quarter as they cruised to their easiest win of the weekend. Nine SBCC players found the scoresheet, led by Natalie Mancinelli and Eden Tal with three goals apiece. Jenna Olson and Kara Hughes chipped in a pair of two-goal performances.
Goalkeeper Ava Donleavy tallied five saves and Chloe McKay had four as she earned the win.
SBCC 9, Long Beach 3
Goalscorers: Daland (3), Olson (3), Lopez (2), Tal
Saves: Donleavy (3), McKay (3)
Facing the weekend's hosts, SBCC shut down the Vikings in a 9-3 victory. It was the second time this season that the Vaqueros have held a team to three goals or less.
Claire Daland and Olson both led the offense with hat tricks. Emily Lopez added two goals and Tal scored once to put the Vaqueros over LBCC for the second time this October.
Fullerton 5, SBCC 4 (OT)
Goalscorers: Straley (2), Olson, Tal
Saves: McKay (8), Donleavy (11)
Against a Fullerton side that had handed SBCC two of its four losses prior to the weekend, the Vaqueros found themselves in a defensive stalemate tied 2-2 at the half. Bella Straley scored midway through the third and fourth quarters to give the Vaqueros a 4-2 lead.
After the Hornets made it a one-goal game with just under three minutes remaining, the game would go down to the final possession of regulation. A wild finish to the fourth quarter would give Fullerton the chance to tie the game, and with eight seconds left on the clock, the Hornets equalized.
Neither team scored in the first two periods of overtime, sending the game into sudden death, but it was Fullerton that would finally break the tie to win it. Donleavy tied a career-high with 11 saves.
SBCC is now 0-3 against Fullerton this season, falling by an average of just two goals.
SBCC 10, Riverside 9 (OT)
Goalscorers: Daland (3), Straley (3), Mancinelli, Muehring, Lopez, Tal
Saves: Donleavy (5), McKay (7)
The Vaqueros found themselves in another tight battle in the final game of the weekend against Riverside. SBCC fell behind by three goals in the third quarter, but would fight its way back to tie it at 6-6 on a Claire Daland goal two minutes into the fourth.
The Vaqueros took their first lead at the 4:39 mark on Daland's third goal of the match. Riverside regained the lead with two straight goals, but Lopez would put in a dramatic buzzer beating goal to tie it at 8-8 and send it into overtime.
In the extra session, Straley struck first and added another with 2:29 left in the game to give SBCC a 10-8 lead that it was able to hold onto.
