COA Water Polo Championship November 16-18, 2006 Central Aquatics Complex, Fresno, CA An official event of the 2006-07 COA Championship Festival

Day 1, 11/16/06 at Central East Aquatics Complex, Fresno, CA

Contact: Pete Schuler, Cuesta SID
pschuler@cuesta.edu or 805 546-3211

Women's Water Polo
S1 Long Beach 16, N3 American River 6
N1 Diablo Valley 7, S3 Golden West 6
N2 Fresno 11, American River 9
S2 Riverside 11, S3 Golden West 3
S1 Long Beach 11, N2 Fresno 1
S2 Riverside 10, N1 Diablo Valley 4

Saturday’s Line Up
Women’s Third Place Game (10:30 am)
N1 Diablo Valley v. N2 Fresno

Women’s Championship Game (1:00 pm)
S1 Long Beach v. S2 Riverside

Wrap-up
The top two seeds from Southern California, #1 Long Beach and #2 Riverside, advanced to the title game after going undefeated on the first day of the 2006 COA State Championships. Riverside is the defending State Champion and beat Long Beach last year to claim the title. Saturday’s title game will mark the fifth straight year that Long Beach has played for the title. Diablo Valley and Fresno City both missed a chance to advance to the title game and to be the first Northern California school to play in the title game. They will meet in the third place game.

Women's Preliminary Round

Long Beach 16, American River 6
1 2 3 4 T
ARC 3 1 1 1 6
LBCC 4 2 6 4 16
Scoring
ARC: Allison Pierce 4, Anne Scott, Jessica Williams
LBCC: Ashling Taylor 5, Kristin Swart 3, Sarah Duncan 2, Blair Davidson 2, Samantha Sears, Lindsay Wampole, Sara Wong, Jamie Baumer
Saves
ARC: Lauren Merrill 4
LBCC: Lauren Taggart 4
Game Notes- It took some time, but top seeded Long Beach pulled away for a 16-6 win over American River in the first game of the 2006 State Championships. The Beavers Allison Pierce scored three goals in the first two quarters to keep the game close, but the Vikings had too much firepower and the pulled away with a 10-2 difference in the second half. 2006 Southern California MVP Ashling Taylor led Long Beach with five goals and All American Kristin Swart added a hat trick for the Vikings, who are a game away from their fifth straight State Title game.

Diablo Valley 7, Golden West 6
1 2 3 4 T
GWC 2 1 2 1 6
DVC 2 1 1 3 7
Scoring
GWC: Kassie Mann 3, Rachel Arnold, Monta Foster, Stacie Erickson
DVC: Jenna Casady 2, Julia Moruza 2, Gwen Stretch, Mary Kennedy, AnneMarie Scott
Saves
GWC: Katie Parker 3
DVC: Veronica Campbell 7
Game Notes- The top seed from Northern California Diablo Valley was pushed into the final minute by the third seed from Southern California, Golden West. Mary Kennedy’s goal with :49 seconds left lifted the Vikings over the Rustlers, 7-6. NorCal Player of the Year Veronica Campbell made four saves in the fourth quarter for Diablo Valley to secure the win and a place on Saturday’s game docket. Golden West has won five of the last ten State Championships, but were not expected to reach the playoffs after finishing third in the Orange Empire Conference and earned the 7th seed in the Southern California Regional Playoffs.

Fresno 11, American River 9
1 2 3 4 T
ARC 4 1 1 3 9
FCC 0 3 4 4 11
Scoring
ARC: Anne Scott 3, Allison Pierce 3, Jessica Chavez 2, Jessica Williams
FCC: Katie McQuone 4, Nathalie Olveda 3, Jennie Brough 2, Katie Bayliss, Natalie Stiffler
Saves
ARC: Lauren Merrill 5
FCC: Katy Santos 10
Game Notes- American River jumped out to a 5-0 lead, thanks to three goals by Anne Scott, over the hometown Rams, but Fresno scored the next five goals to tie the game by the third quarter. Nathalie Olveda’s goal with 1:15 left in the third quarter gave the Rams their first lead of the game. The Rams scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter and went on to win 11-9. The Rams were led by Katie McQuone’s four goals and Katy Santos’ ten saves in the goal. Both the Beavers and Rams are making their first trip to the State Finals, however American River was without the leadership of Head Coach Bethani Black, who had a baby girl earlier this week.

Riverside 11, Golden West 3
1 2 3 4 T
GWC 2 0 0 1 3
RCC 1 4 4 2 11
Scoring
GWC: Stacie Erickson 2, Ashley McClure
RCC: Layla Behzadian 3, Brittany Koralewski 2, Tamarqa Hoyt 2, Teresa Fleming, Tiffany Strickland, Melissa de Jonckheere, Rylee Scheid
Saves
GWC: Katie Parker 9
RCC: Jessica McLaughlin 11
Game Notes- Riverside won its first 32 games of the year before losing to Long Beach in the 2006 Southern California Regional Finals, but that loss is history now as the Tigers crushed Golden West in their first game back in Fresno. The defending State Champion Tigers fell behind 2-0 in the first quarter and then scored nine unanswered goals to knock out Orange Empire Conference rival Golden West. The Tigers used seven different goal scorers to set up a showdown with the North’s top seed Diablo Valley for the right to play in the State Title game. 2006 co-Southern California Player of the Year Jessica McLaughlin had 11 saves in the goal for Riverside and led a defense that shut out the Rustlers for most of the last three quarters.

Long Beach 11, Fresno 1
1 2 3 4 T
FCC 0 0 0 1 1
LBCC 4 2 3 2 11
Scoring
FCC: Katie McQuone
LBCC: Sara Wong 4, Erica Dill 2, Ashling Taylor 2, Lindsay Wampole, Katlin Grieving, Kristin Swart
Saves
FCC: Katy Santos 8
LBCC: Lauren Taggart 9, Jessica Smiley 3
Game Notes: Top ranked Long Beach easily handled Fresno City on the to its fifth straight title game. The Vikings scored nine goals before the Rams’ Katie McQuone got Fresno on the scoreboard with two minutes gone in the fourth quarter. Freshman Driver Sara Wong led Long Beach with four goals, but two of those goals were off penalty throws earned by Ashling Taylor. Taylor, who scored twice against the Rams, and American River’s Allison Pierce lead all scorers with seven goals on the day. This is Fresno’s first trip to the State Championships and the Rams will play on Saturday in the third place game (10:30).

Riverside 10, Diablo Valley 4
1 2 3 4 T
RCC 4 3 1 2 10
DVC 2 0 0 2 4
Scoring
RCC: Melissa de Jonckheere 3, Teresa Fleming 2, Brittany Honny 2, Kelsie Arnold, Rylee Schied, Brittany Koralewski
DVC: AnneMarie Scott 2, Jenna Casady, Dominique Bonilla
Saves
RCC: Jessica McLaughlin 7
DVC: Veronica Campbell 8
Game Notes: Riverside’s win over the top seed from Northern California, Diablo Valley, kept the Tigers hopes of a repeat alive. The defending State Champions cruised to victory in the second half after opening up a 7-3 lead at the half. Riverside’s defense shut down the Vikings offense in the second and third quarters as 2006 Southern California co-Player of the Year Jessica McLaughlin tallied seven saves for the Tigers, while 2006 Northern California Player of the Year Veronica Campbell tried to keep her team in the mix with eight saves of her own. Riverside will play Long Beach in a rematch of the 2005 title game on Saturday, while Diablo Valley plays Fresno City for third place.