Women's Water Polo | March 12, 2016

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A strong showing against No. 19 Hartwick College wasn't enough to save the day as the Cal State Monterey Bay water polo team fell twice at Santa Clara University Saturday. The Otters dropped the opener to Santa Clara, 13–4, in the morning before Hartwick held on for an 11–7 win in the afternoon match.

Senior Maggie Albers (Monterey HS/Univ. of Hawaii) led the Otter offense with five goals Saturday. She was the only Otter to score in both games. Kat Lloyd (Orinda/Miramonte HS) and Morgan Fain (Visalia/College of the Sequoias) split time in goal, with Lloyd collecting 10 saves and Fain five on the day.

The Otters started slowly in the opener against host Santa Clara, spotting the Broncos leads of 5–0 and 8–1 before finding their sea legs. SCU out–scored the Otters just 5–3 over the final 18 minutes.

Albers and Kylie Wheelock (Clovis HS) registered two goals apiece to account for the CSUMB scoring. Lloyd and Fain split time in goal and made two saves each.

The Otters gave the Top 20 Hawks all they could handle in the afternoon. A pair of Albers goals late in the second period brought CSUMB to within 5–3 at the half. Hartwick scored the first four goals after the restart to grab some breathing room before holding off a late Otter rally to earn the win.

"We learned how important it is for us to be relaxed before and during our games," said CSUMB Head Coach Gary Figueroa. "We were much better against Hartwick than against santa clara at that today."

CSUMB heads to Fresno next weekend for matches against Cal State Bakersfield and Fresno Pacific University at FPU on Mar. 19. The Otters return to the Otter Tank for their final regular season home match against Cal State East Bay on Mar. 25.