Cuesta jumped out to a 6-1 second-quarter lead and went on to defeat SBCC 11-6 on Wednesday in a battle of unbeaten WSC women's water polo teams in San Luis Obispo.
The Vaqueros fell to 6-9 and 2-1 while the Cougars improved to 12-3 and 2-0. Cuesta is tied for first with Ventura.
Rocio Fesembeck led the Vaqueros with three goals, boosting her WSC-leading total to 53. Autumn Lovett scored a goal, drew eight ejections and made three saves in goal in relief of Alex Brown, who had nine saves.
"I was very impressed by the play of Autumn Lovett," said coach Chuckie Roth. "This was her first game back in the field and she made a huge impact.
"As a team, we showed tremendous improvement. Last time we played Cuesta (on Sept. 13) we lost 18-7, and today we were able to keep it to 11-6. I was proud of our improvement."
SBCC used three power-play goals and a penalty shot to close the gap to 9-5 at halftime. Cuesta's Haley Shafer scored the only goal of the third period just before the buzzer.
The Vaqueros are off until Oct. 10-11 when they'll compete in the Ventura Tournament.
SBCC ………......... 1 4 0 1 -- 6
Cuesta ………...… 3 6 1 1 – 11
Goals--SB: Fesembeck 3, Lovett, Wentz Fitzgerald, Tkach. C: Haley Shafer 3, Molly Casey 3. Goalie saves--SB: Brown 9, Lovett 3.
