SANTA CLARA, Calif. - During an opening weekend trip to Northern California, the Cal Lutheran women's water polo team posted a 1-3 record against Division I and II teams. The trip began with a season opening victory over DII Cal State University, Monterey Bay by an 8-7 margin on Friday afternoon.
The first game of the season saw CLU debuts for Maddie Campbell, Maggie Kurzeka, Darby Schuett, Lauren Shackelford and Samantha Wulfestieg as the Regals earned an 8-7 victory.
Cal Lutheran took a 4-1 lead at halftime against the Otters on Friday with Jordan Card netting the first goal of the season. Tatiana McCuaig scored twice in the first half and Kaylee Kastrup tallied the fourth. After the break, CSUMB chipped away, outscoring CLU 3-2 in each frame, but knotted at 7-7, Amanda Jones scored the winning skip shot in a man-up situation with a minute remaining to give the visiting team the advantage. A pair of defensive stops from the Regals in the final minute was capped by a huge save from Gina Merry, her tenth of the game, to seal the win. Overall, Shackelford scored twice with an assist and two steals, Kurzeka scored a goal and recorded a steal and Schuett notched a steal as well. Merry finished with four steals to lead the CLU defensive unit.
On Saturday at CSU East Bay, the Regals jumped out to an early 3-1 lead behind goals from McCuaig, Shackelford and Wulfestieg, but a scoreless second stanza and a six-goal fourth from the Pioneers were too much for the Violet and Gold to overcome in the 13-6 loss. Leading the way offensively was Shackelford with two goals and defensively Merry tallied seven saves and Card, McCuaig and Logan Young each had a field block. Additionally, Cindy Delic made her collegiate debut and recorded an assist.
To close out the trip, the Regals headed to Santa Clara for two games. In a showdown with the Division I squad to start the day, CLU fell 11-2 with Jones and Wulfestieg notching the only two scores. In the nightcap and weekend finale, the Regals were doubled up 16-8 by the Seawolves from DII Sonoma State.
Cal Lutheran returns to Thousand Oaks to host the Eighth Annual Cal Lutheran Tournament, which has been renamed to the Tina Finali Invitational in 2015. The Regals will play six games over three days as they host 12 teams from around the country at the Samuelson Aquatics Center and Oaks Christian High School.
Box Score: SS16, CLU 8 - results unavailable at time of release
Box Score: SC 11, CLU 2
Box Score: CSUEB 13, CLU 6
Box Score: CLU 8, CSUMB 7
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