The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The562’s coverage of aquatic sports in Long Beach in 2025-26 is sponsored by Watersafe Swim School.
There’s a saying that goes, “To be the champion, you have to beat the champion,” and on Sunday the Long Beach State women’s water polo team had their chance to knock off the reigning champ as they hosted Hawai’i in the Big West Championship Final.
However, after Hawai’i scored five second-quarter goals Long Beach State wasn’t able to find their footing as they lost 14-9 – making it three consecutive years the Beach has lost in the Big West Championship versus their island rivals.
“Long Beach is an incredible team,” Hawai’i coach James Robinson said. “They’ve had an incredible season and every time we’ve played them it’s a battle. So, going into it the focus was on us and I’m proud of this group.
In their opening Big West game against Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State coach said that defense wins championships and it was clear that the Beach wasn’t going to back down after the Rainbow Wahine jumped out to a 2-0 lead after goals by Agatha Weston and Camille Radosavljevic.
Long Beach State junior Chiara Amoroso answered right back less than 20 seconds later when she scored on a penalty shot after Daniela Quinzada drew the foul. Sophomore Rita Gurri tied the game with her first goal on a 6-on-5 chance as the Beach tied the game 2-2 after the first period.
The Beach continued to battle as both teams continued their aggressive play leading to back-to-back penalty shots. Hawai’i’s Ema Vernoux gave Rainbow Wahine a 3-2 lead before Elisa Portillo responded to tie the game with her own penalty shot that tied that game with 4:51 left in the first half.
From that point on, Hawai’i went on a 3-0 run as Tara Logan, Weston and Gabrielle Doyle to push the lead to 6-3. With less than a minute left, Amoroso’s second goal made it a two-goal deficit – but with nine second left in the first half, Ariadna Temprano Xambo scored to push the lead back to three heading into the break.
Overall, it was a battle between which teams were able to be more efficient with their opportunities and while the Beach had 31 shots compared to Hawai’i’s 27 – the Rainbow Wahine scored 14 goals to finish the game with an efficient .519 shooting percentage.
For the Beach, Amoroso and Gurri were bright spots for the LBSU offense as they combined for five goals as the team had a .290 shot percentage in the loss. It was clear Hawai’i wanted to make things difficult for LBSU seniors Portillo, Lucy Miszewski who combined for three goals on 12 shots.
Miszeski’s first goal didn’t come until there was less than two minutes in the game when the contest was already out of reach. She scored her second in garbage time with less than a minute left in regulation.
Hawai’i’s Daisy Logtens was efficient in the cage finishing with nine saves and a .500 shooting percentage.
The Rainbow Wahine will now await their NCAA postseason journey when the bracket is announced on Monday at 5 p.m. during the selection show on NCAA.com.
