MERCED, Calif. – Hope Stokes combined for eleven goals and the University of California, Merced women's water polo team earned their first two wins of the inaugural season on Sunday morning at the Aquatics Center, rolling past Saint Mary's club team 22-8 before winning a 9-8 thriller over UC Davis' club team.
Sunday also marked the Bobcats (2-4, 2-0) inaugural home games and the CWPA Sierra Pacific "B" Division opener.
VS. Saint Mary's
Hope Stokes scored six goals, while Kaitlyn Kimmel and Viviana Luna added four goals each to lead the Bobcats to a 22-8 wire-to-wire victory. Myranda Martinez had a hat trick and Arianna Martinez scored twice. All five Bobcats notched season-high's.
Stokes scored a goal in the first 20 seconds of the game and a had her first hat-trick of the season by the end of the first quarter. Overall, UC Merced scored six unanswered goals and led 6-1 after seven minutes of action.
Head coach Johnny Bega's squad reached double figure goals for the first time this season when Luna found the back of the cage just two minutes before halftime, giving the Bobcats a 10-3 lead at intermission.
Three different Bobcats scored in the first two minutes of third quarter to extend the Bobcats lead to 10 goals at 13-3. Myranda Martinez was one of those three to score, who would then go on to score two more goals in the frame to notch her first career hat-trick. Miranda Cruz scored her first career goal at the end of the quarter to extend the Bobcats lead to 17-5.
UC Merced continued to find success offensively with five more goals in the fourth quarter, two out of the hand of Kimmel. Other fourth quarter notables include the first career goals from Veronica Vazquez and Vanessa Raygoza. UC Merced led by as many as 15 goals on three occasions.
Goalkeeper Carlin Rodelo played all 28 minutes in cage for the Bobcats against SMC.
VS. UC Davis
Luna scored the game-winning goal with a second remaining to play the hero role in the Bobcats second win of the day. Tied 8-8 out of a timeout with 12 seconds left, Rodelo restarted the action in the center of the pool and moved it ahead to Luna with five seconds left. Luna fired from just outside five meters and beat the keeper far corner with a second to spare.
Luna's game-winning goal also completed her second hat-trick of the day and her third of the young campaign.
Stokes scored five goals in the win over UC Davis, including the Bobcats first four goals to erase an early deficit and grab the Bobcats a 4-2 lead late in the first half. A busy end to the first half saw UC Davis cut the deficit to 4-3 before Juliana Torres answered with her first career goal. Luna scored 90 seconds ahead of intermission and the Bobcats carried their 6-3 lead into the five-minute break.
However, the Bobcats were scoreless in the third quarter and saw UC Davis score three goals in the same timeframe to even the game at 6-6.
UC Merced and UC Davis took turns scoring goals in the fourth quarter. Luna and Stokes put the Bobcats ahead 8-6, while the Aggies tied it up with 1:01 to go in regulation. After a scoreless one minute, Luna buried the game-winner to cap off a doubleheader sweep for the Bobcats in their inaugural home games.
Rodelo played all 28 minutes in net.
Looking ahead, UC Merced plays a pair of games at West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif. The Bobcats will take on West Valley College and University of Toronto.
