Courtesy: Cal Athletics
LONG BEACH — The No. 4 California women’s water polo team took control in the second period of play and cruised to an 11-6 win at No. 8 Long Beach State in a nonconference game today. The Golden Bears improve to 13-3 overall with the win.
Cal responded to a 2-0 deficit with a five-goal rally. Sparked by a Julia Bonaguidi 5-meter penalty late in the first, the Bears turned up the defense and converted four second-frame goals while silencing the Beach. Feline Voordouw nabbed a steal that sent Cal off on the attack, and Despoina Drakotou found Holly Dunn for an equalizer. Vourdouw later earned a 6-on-5 for the Bears, and finished it off herself off a feed from Dunn. Then it was Eszter Varro getting the steal and then scoring from a counterattack feed from Talia Fonseca for a 4-2 Bear advantage at 3:08. A minute later, Fonseca found Abbi Magee for another Cal strike, and it was 5-2 Bears for halftime.
The Beach battled back and made it a one-goal game again with early goals in the third, only to see Cal tally two more. Abbi Magee punched up her third goal of the day on a 7-on-6 score on the final possession of the third, and Cal was up 8-5 entering the fourth. Drakotou, Dunn and Varro all got to the back of the net in the final stretch, securing an 11-6 win for the Bears on the road.
#4 Cal 11, #8 Long Beach State 6
March 25, 2026 | Ken Lindgren Aquatic Center (Long Beach, Calif.)
CAL 1 – 4 – 3 – 3 = 11
LBSU 2 – 0 – 3 – 1 = 6
SCORING:
CAL — Abbi Magee 3, Julia Bonaguidi 2, Eszter Varro, Holly Dunn, Feline Voordouw, Despoina Drakotou.
LBSU — Portillo 2, Amoroso, Goren, Miszewski, Polmp.
SAVES: Talia Fonseca (CAL) 6, Synytsia (LBSU) 13.
NEXT: Cal now heads to Los Angeles for an MPSF meeting against No. 1 USC at 12 p.m. next Saturday (March 28) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
NOTABLE:
– With two goals today, Julia Bonaguidi has scored multiple goals in Cal’s last five games.
– Despoina Drakotou (1 goal), Abbi Magee (3 goals) and Feline Voordouw (1 goals) have each scored in 14 of Cal’s 15 games this season.
