The Varsity Blues women's water polo traveled to Thousand Oaks on Tuesday to play two games at the Regals Game Day hosted by Cal Lutheran University.  The Blues first squared off in the morning against #21 Cal State Northridge (CSUN) before playing the host Regals in the late afternoon.
 
#21  CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE  11   BLUES  8
 
The Blues were sluggish starting out and quickly fell behind 2-0 to the Matadors.  Head Coach George Gross, Jr. immediately used one of his timeouts to get the team to focus on the task at hand.  CSUN would score another but then the move paid off as the Blues stormed back with two goals to finish the opening quarter only down 3-2.
 
The Matadors extended their lead by one in the second period to lead 5-3 at the half.  Two quick scores to start the third put CSUN up 7-3 and things did not look good for the Blues.  But the players rallied around each other to score three unanswered goals to pull within one before a late goal by the Matadors left the Blues trailing 8-6 entering the final frame.
 
Toronto kept pace in the period and, with a minute remaining, trailed 10-8 and had a power play.  With a conversion, the Blues would have been within one needing a stop on the next attack to have a chance to tie on the final
possession of the game.  However, the right wing shot was blocked and the Matadors counterattacked to score and put the game away.
 
Blues freshman Allie Vas (Yorba Linda, California) had a monster game scoring six goals.  Junior Rhianna Wood (Calgary) and freshman Sarah Wentling (Mohnton, Pennsylvania) added the other markers.  Junior goalie Rachael Jaffe (Irvine, California) had another strong game making 15 saves and 4 steals.
 
Though the team lost, the game marked the second time a huge improvement had been made against an opponent from last year's tour when the Matadors outclassed the Blues 13-3.
 
CAL LUTHERAN  11    BLUES  4
 
Toronto never got into the game, giving up three goals in each of the first two quarters while getting shut out in the process. With three goals in the third period, the Blues looked poised to make a game of things trailing 6-3.  However, a late goal by the Regals seemed to take the wind out of the Blues' comeback sails.
 
Sophomore Caitlyn Tiedje (Okotoks, Alberta) paced the Blues attack with a pair of goals while freshmen Deena Charles (Langley, B.C.) and Vas added singles.

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