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Undefeated weekend leads to CWPA Tournament #2 title for CSUM
Posted: Feb 18, 2024

Undefeated weekend leads to CWPA Tournament #2 title for CSUM

Preview

CWPA Tournament #2 Results

 Saturday, Feb. 17
 Cal Maritime 9, UC Davis 5
Saint Mary's 15, UC Santa Cruz (B) 4
UC Davis (B) 8, San Francisco 6
Cal Maritime 10, UC Santa Cruz (B) 2
Saint Mary's 11, San Francisco 6

Sunday, Feb. 18
 UC Davis (B) 8, UC Santa Cruz (B) 3
Cal Maritime 9, San Francisco 6
Saint Mary's 7, UC Davis (B) 5
UC Santa Cruz defeats San Francisco by forfeit
Cal Maritime 6, Saint Mary's 4

VALLEJO, Calif. – After sweeping Saturday's schedule at the CWPA Tournament #2, hosted by Cal Maritime at PEAC Pool, the Keelhaulers continued where they left off Sunday morning by defeating San Francisco, 9-6, in the first of two matches scheduled throughout the final day of competition. 

In a match that pitted the weekend's only undefeated teams, Cal Maritime won a thrilling battle versus Saint Mary's to end the CWPA Tournament #2 as its only undefeated team, and won this event's championship by defeating the Gaels, 6-4. 

"Saint Mary's is a great team, you need to play your best from start to finish or else it will take a quick lead that will only grow as the game progresses," said head coach Matt De Trane."

"Even though we trailed early, everyone kept their poise and played smart water polo. By making clutch plays all game long when we needed to, we were able to win this championship in front of our home fans." 

De Trane added, "thank you to everyone who braved the rain all weekend long to support this team. 

As was the case in both games played the previous day, CSUM never trailed against the Dons and jumped out to a 7-1 lead until San Francisco scored three straight to pull within three.

But CSUM's defense shut down the Dons for the next seven minutes of action and scored twice within that timespan to lead 9-4 with five minutes left to play.

Even though USF scored the final two goals of the match, Cal Maritime's defense shut down its offense for the final 4:27 to win its third straight in as many played. 

Of the Keelhaulers' nine goals, Olivia Larwood found the back of the cage five times. Ryan Wallace scored a pair of her own with Hannah Durheim and Sriya Santhanam responsible for the rest of CSUM's scoring.

Cate Andersson shined in goal for the Keelhaulers all match long and finished with eight saves; half of that total took place in the second period alone.

By scoring the only two goals of the first quarter in Sunday's tournament finale, Saint Mary's took a 2-0 lead into the second period — the only time all weekend long that Cal Maritime entered any quarter trailing on the scoreboard.

Yesterday, it was Wallace who found the back of the cage when UC Davis started pulling close to the Keelhaulers, those goals sealed the victory for her team. Against Saint Mary's, she singlehandedly tied the score at two by recording goals 49 seconds apart from one another.

Two minutes later, Larwood scored the go-ahead goal, which gave Cal Maritime a 3-2 lead — an advantage women's water polo did not relinquish for the rest of the match.

As was the case throughout the weekend entering this match, fans enjoyed a goalkeeping clinic displayed by Anderson since she stopped numerous 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 scoring opportunities for Saint Mary's throughout the first half, which kept her team within striking distance, even though the Keelhaulers trailed early.

By making a clutch save right before halftime, one of 11 collected throughout the match, Anderson preserved CSUM's slim one-goal lead entering the final half of the weekend.

Even though the Gaels pulled within one 3:27 seconds left in the third quarter and at the start of the fourth, Cal Maritime responded with clutch shots to double its lead and create a little breathing room.

In the third quarter, it was Wallace who scored 10 seconds after SMC pulled within one; the following period saw Larwood turn her team's 5-4 lead into the game's final score by recording her second goal of the day with 3:03 left to play. 

Wallace finished with a game-high four goals against SMC.

"I am proud of the way everyone played with poise, especially when things turned a little chippy towards the end (of the game versus Saint Mary's). Everyone has been working hard and I am thrilled they can celebrate a tournament championship together as a reward for all the time, energy and effort they invested so far this season," said De Trane.

Cal Maritime will return to action next weekend when it heads to UC Santa Cruz on Saturday and next Sunday to compete in the CWPA Tournament #3.

After their rematch against Saint Mary's in Saturday's 9 a.m. tournament opener, the Keelhaulers will face UC Davis at 2:50 p.m. Sunday's schedule includes another game against UC Davis at 10:10 a.m. and a 2:50 p.m. clash against the tournament hosts. 

 

Cal Maritime 9, San Francisco 6

Cal Maritime Scoring
Olivia Larwood 5; Ryan Wallace 2; Hannah Durheim, Sriya Santhanam 1

San Francisco Scoring
 C. Mora 2; K. Garcia, S. Koe, K. Sheridan, S. Sundell 1


Cal Maritime 6, Saint Mary's 4

Cal Maritime Scoring
Ryan Wallace 4; Olivia Larwood 2

Saint Mary's Scoring
K. Muni 2; #3,  T. Navawo 1