The562’s coverage of aquatic sports in Long Beach in 2025-26 is sponsored by Watersafe Swim School.
The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
After a dominating opening round win, the Cabrillo girls’ water polo team found itself in a very different situation during the second round against Bolsa Grande.
The Jaguars offense clawed their way to a lead, but saw the Matadors claw their way back into the game before Cabrillo kept Bolsa Grande scoreless in the final three minutes of action as they came away with a hard-fought 7-4 win Tuesday night.
“I told them I knew that it’s not going to be any easier than our first game,” Cabrillo coach Julia Camacho said. “You know, it’s gonna be harder and we’re gonna have to dig deep.”
Cabrillo will continue their historic season on Friday when they host Edgewood in the quarterfinals.
After a 22-goal outburst in the opening round, the Jaguars’ offense found itself in a tough battle against Bolsa Grande. Chelsea Tzunun scored the lone goal in the period as Cabrillo took a 1-0 lead.
The Jaguars’ offense got back into rhythm as Arleen Castillo and Valerie Salas scored to give Cabrillo a 3-0 lead at the break. Freshman Roselyn Lucindo had a memorable night in the cage as she had four saves and helped keep the Matadors scoreless in the half including guiding the team to 6-on-5 stops.
Castillo’s second goal and Lucindo’s first goal pushed the Jaguars’ lead to 5-0 midway through the third period. However, that’s when Bolsa Grande got things going as they scored two goals in the third to cut Cabrillo’s lead to 5-2 heading into the final period.
The Matadors continued that momentum into the final seven minutes as they took advantage of the Jaguars’ offensive struggles. Bolsa Grande made it a 4-0 run and cut the lead to 5-4 with 3:08 remaining in the game.
That’s when Camacho took a time out looking for a spark for Cabrillo. That spark is when she decided to put Lucindo back in the cage and shift Garibay back into the center position.
“(Lucindo) takes control in the cage,” Camacho said of the switch. “Sometimes when I notice my 1A is getting shaky especially when we’re really close – I needed Roselyn’s confidence back in the cage.”
The switch immediately made an impact as Lucindo came up with another save on her way to nine on the night and offensively, Garibay scored with 1:27 left to push the lead to 6-4.
“My goal was to get that goal permanently closed,” Lucindo said of going back into the cage. “It was nerve-wracking. I was like ‘Can I do this?’. Had a couple close calls but I kept it closed and didn’t let them get any more goals.”
