California Baptist University
USC
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Lancers Finish Off Seawolves
1/21/2017 11:21:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A grueling first week of the 2017 season came to a close for California Baptist University on Saturday at the UC Santa Barbara Winter Invite.
After three top-25 matchups right out of the gate, CBU ended things on a high note with a 7-4 win over Sonoma State Saturday night.
"It's really important to end the last game going out of a tournament with a win," Coach Jon Miller said. "You want to see progress and every game presented a unique challenge this week. We had to show ourselves we could finish a game tonight."
The 22nd-ranked Lancers are now 1-3 on the year after a 22-1 loss to No. 2 USC earlier in the day. The Trojans are 2-0 and the Seawolves are 0-2. CBU opens up at home next Saturday during its Mini Invite, hosting UC Irvine and Concordia at 11:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.
"This group has a lot of heart and a lot of competitive spirit," Miller said. "The work level was awesome to see this week. This team is very tough."
CBU closed out Sonoma State with a 3-0 run in the final 4:30 of the fourth quarter. Jessica Castellano provided nearly half of CBU's goals, with a hat trick, in the 7-4 win.
It was a promising result for a new-look squad, which balances youth and experience. Four seniors and three sophomores started for the Lancers on Saturday, and the group came together and finished out the week on a high note.
"It's a lot different for the older girls because our offense is completely different than what it was last year," said Castellano, a senior two-meter defender. "A lot of younger girls really stepped up this week and really set the pace for what this season is going to be. Getting used to change is our biggest challenge right now and I definitely saw a push in the right direction."
After trailing in the first half, goals from sophomore Pua Wong and Castellano brought the Lancers back from a 3-2 deficit and put them up 4-3 with 2:38 left in the third quarter.
"At halftime, we realized we really needed to step up and get this win because it will help lead us for the rest of the season," Castellano said. "Everything started clicking after a couple of games and we stopped playing as individuals and started playing as a team."
The Seawolves answered to tie the game at 4-4 with five minutes to go in regulation. Thirty seconds later, Jaclyn Myers tallied the go-ahead goal on a man-advantage created by Madison Gonzales' drawn exclusion.
A stop at the other end put the Lancers back on the attack and Castellano finished it with a goal from distance, about seven meters out, with 3:14 remaining. At 6-4, it was the first multi-point lead of the night.
"We needed to simplify things a little bit in the fourth quarter and create a little more space for our centers and drivers to work," Miller said. "We were more efficient then, got some good looks and put some shots away."
CBU's defense kept it a two-goal game. Sonoma State had a six-on-five snuffed out when Annie Eubanks snuck in a passing lane and forced a steal on defense with 1:39 to play. Twenty seconds later, Medeiros kept the Seawolves out of the cage with a near-post save. Valerie Spezzaferri capped the scoring with a laser shot with one second left on the shot clock, which snuck by the goalie near post.
???????Paizlee Dreyer scored a point in both games, logging the one goal against the Trojans and then assisting on an early goal against the Seawolves. Lizette Perez also scored and assisted against Sonoma State.
RESULTS
