VALLEJO, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's water polo team settled for a split in the round robin stage of the NAIA West Invitational on Saturday afternoon, beating Cal Maritime 17-4 and losing to OUAZ 14-8.
With the split, the Bobcats will be back in the pool Sunday morning at 9:00am to play an elimination match against the Keelhaulers. The winner will take on OUAZ in the championship match at noon.
Liberty Hamilton led the Bobcats offense with nine goals on Saturday, scoring six in the victory and three against the Spirit. Her six goals tied Claudette Asenjo for the Bobcats 2024 single-game high.
Melanie Torres scored eight times, five against Cal Maritime and three in the loss.
Both Hamilton and Torres now have four hat tricks on the season.
Jacqueline Azevedo scored once in each match.
Hope Stokes logged all 64 minutes in the cage and had 16 saves against OUAZ and 12 against Cal Maritime.
Game One | OUAZ 14, UC Merced 8
OUAZ struck first with two early goals and forced the Bobcats to play catchup the entire match. Torres got the Bobcats on the board midway through the first quarter to cut the 2-0 deficit in half, but then OUAZ scored back-to-back again to go up 4-1. Hamilton scored on a penalty shot before the quarter ended to make it a 4-2 game.
The Bobcats fell further behind in the second quarter as they were outscored 5-1 and trailed 9-3 at intermission. Hamilton scored the Bobcats lone goal of the frame at the 4:34 mark.
Head coach Johnny Bega's squad shutout OUAZ in the third quarter, however the Bobcats were also scoreless until Stokes beat the buzzer with a goal to make it 9-4.
The Bobcats were unable to pull any closer the rest of the way. OUAZ scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter and then the teams alternated goals the rest of the way, resulting in the 14-8 OUAZ win. All four of the Bobcats fourth quarter goals came inside of the 4:10 mark. Torres and Hamilton finished out their hat tricks, while Azevedo put her first shot in the cage.
Game Two | UC Merced 17, Cal Maritime 4
UC Merced tied their single-season scoring output with 17 goals and every field player who saw action deposited at least one shot into the back of the net.
Tied 3-3 early in the second quarter, Aislyn Sorsky broke the tie and the Bobcats scored 13 unanswered goals in a goal scoring spree that stretched all the way into the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats built an 8-3 lead by halftime, and then shutout Cal Maritime 5-0 in the third quarter. Head coach Johnny Bega's squad led 13-3 heading into the fourth.
UC Merced scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter to cap off their 13-0 run. Cal Maritime finally scored again with 4:04 to go in the game.
Hamilton scored four goals in the run, while Torres had three. Azevedo, Sorsky, Piper Ferris, Karla Hernandez, Kaitlyn Kimmel, and Arianna Martinez scored a goal each to help the Bobcats build their 16-3 lead.
After Cal Maritime's goal, Torres finalized Saturday's scoring at the 2:47 mark for the 17-4 victory.
Up next, UC Merced will play Cal Maritime at 9:00am on Sunday, April 14 at the PEAC Pool in Vallejo, Calif. The winner will play OUAZ in the championship match at 12:00pm.
