The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's water polo team concluded their fall NCAA competition tour of Northern California with a split of their final two games.
It was the worst of times and the best of times as the Blues struggles in the morning against Cal State East Bay, before rebounding in the afternoon to score a huge victory over NCAA DI Santa Clara University. The split, coupled with the doubleheader sweep of Cal State Monterey Bay the day before, gave the Blues their first ever California tour winning record in six visits.
BLUES 4 CSU East Bay 11
The Blues were low on energyto begin their second day of competition versus the host Pioneers. The combination of a smaller pool and a very physical approach by East Bay put the Blues on their heels early and the team never recovered.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 3-0 first quarter lead with the Blues offence slow out of the gates.
The Blues showed a little life in the second with a pair of goals, before finishing the quarter still down by a three-goal deficit.
The Pioneers piled on five more goals to just one more for the Blues, en route to the 11-4 final score.
"When you get pushed around physically and don't respond, plus you aren't focused, the situation is going to turn very ugly and lead to a very negative result," Blues head coach George Gross Jr. stated frankly. "The coaching staff and the players have to feel embarrassed by the display, but equally be supremely motivated to right the ship quickly."
Second-year attacker Devon Lynch, along with first-year players Josie Andrist (who was playing against her twin sister in the game), Lillian Wheatley and Sarah Neal all scored once.
BLUES 13 Santa Clara 9
The Blues entered the second game against the Broncos without fourth-year left-handed attacker Vega Jones who was injured in the morning game, and without super sub Sarah August, who did not make the trip.
Despite the roster shortage, the Blues came out in a determined fashion and took the game to Santa Clara, doubling up the Broncos 4-2 in the opening quarter.
In the second period, Santa Clara fought back and tied things up early. The Blues then ran off three straight goals to pull ahead 7-4, only to see the Broncos score twice late, reducing the Blues advantage to 7-6 going into the halftime break.
Twice the Broncos tied the game up in the first half of the third quarter. Three Blues starters fouled out of the game. However, this time, it was the Blues who struck for two late goals to carry a 10-8 edge into the final frame.
In the fourth period, despite being severely undermanned, the reignited Blues offence kept the pressure on and tallied three more times, while the defence, behind the superlative goaltending of fourth-year goalie Hana Truchla, held the Broncos to a single marker.
"I felt like I should introduce myself to all the players after the game and find out who they are since they definitely were not the same players who underperformed just four hours earlier," said Gross, Jr. "It was a tremendous rebound effort by the team and an amazing game to watch and coach. We also had several recruits in attendance with their parents, so the result was even more impactful for our program."
Lynch had an absolutely monster game scoring six goals, including the goal of the season (supplanting fourth-year co-captain Julia DeCaire's tally the day before in the second game versus Cal State Monterey Bay). Blues'scoring leader Hannah Levin and Andrist each netted a hat-trick, while fourth-year co-captain Alexandra Lee added the other goal.
Truchla was the deciding factor in the victory stopping two breakaways, making several steals and turning away shot-after-shot from high chance areas.
The Blues finished the NorCal tour with a 3-1 record. The team was scheduled to play No. 12 ranked University of the Pacific the next day but the pool filtration system broke down. Despite several attempts to find a new host pool, the game had to be canceled. The Blues now return home to play their final NCWP regular season game - a make-up game versus the Guelph Gryphons. Details of the rescheduled match will follow.
