BERKELEY, Calif- For the second day in a row, the Sonoma State women's water polo team faced a pair of nationally-ranked opponents in a very tough opening weekend tournament; unfortunately, the Seawolves had as much success as they had one day earlier. Taking on No. 19 Santa Clara and No. 8 San Jose State, Sonoma State managed just four combined goals on the day, losing 8-1 and 17-3, respectively.
The two-day NorCal Invitational, hosted by the University of California at Berkeley, featured 11 teams, seven of which were ranked in the top 20 of the Collegiate Preseason Poll. The tough losses put the Seawolves at 0-4 on the season.
Sonoma State played close with Santa Clara than any other team this weekend, surrendering just eight goals.
Holly Armijo was the lone scorer for the Seawolves on Sunday morning, netting the goal in the second period to head into halftime with a 5-1 deficit. Three goals in the third period by the Broncos put the game away indefinitely. Goalkeeper
Gina Uliana made six saves.
In the afternoon match, the Seawolves started out strong, scoring two goals against San Jose State but nine first half goals by the Spartans kept Sonoma State at bay. SJSU added eight more in the second half, surrendering just one SSU goal to give the Spartans the 17-3 win.
Laurel Stricklin,
Briana Salazar and
Lindsay Rangel scored the goals for Sonoma State. Uliana made five saves.
In the four-game tournament, Stricklin scored a team-high three goals and Uliana made 23 saves.
As for next weekend, the Seawolves will battle with another national powerhouse in 11th-ranked Loyola Marymount at the Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego.
Match Statistics
No. 19 Santa Clara 8, Sonoma State 1
SSU Scoring: Holly Armijo. Saves: Gina Uliana (6).
SSU: 0 1 0 0 --- 1
SCU: 3 2 3 0 --- 8
No. 8 San Jose State 17, Sonoma State 3
SSU Scoring: Laurel Stricklin, Briana Salazar, Lindsay Rangel. Saves: Uliana (5).
SSU: 2 0 1 0 --- 3
SJSU: 6 3 5 3 --- 23