FULLERTON, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans women's water polo team had to dig deep as they grinded out two close victories over Santa Clara and Mount St. Mary's on Friday at the Titan Aquatics Center to open the Convergence Tournament. 

Cal State Fullerton 14, Santa Clara 13

Destiny Hernandez led the Titans with 5 goals and one assist.  Lotte Boxsem had three goals and one assist.  Sofia Moschetti scored twice and had one assist.  Delaney lAtham, Mia Hatch, Mia Solorzano, and Jade Lonzo all scored one goal a piece. Renske Boxsem made six saves in the cage.

The Titans jumped to a 3-1 lead over the Broncos in the first quarter.  Destiny Hernandez and Mia Hatch scored the first two goals to create an early 2-0 lead.  The Broncos got one back before Lotte Boxsem made it 3-1.

The Titans held onto to their two goal lead for most of the second quarter as they responded each time the Broncos scored.  The Titans went into the halftime break ahead 7-4 after Destiny Hernandez scored with 25 seconds left in the second quarter.

Santa Clara outscored the Titans 4-to-3 in the third.  The Broncos cut the deficit to one goal twice in the quarter before Mia Solorzano restored the two goal advantage to make it 10-8 after three.

Santa Clara scored twice to start the fourth quarter to tie the game at 10-10.  Lotte Boxsem scored to restore the Titans lead at 11-10 before Santa Clara scorred the equalizer and the go ahead goal to take a 12-11 lead over the Titans.  The Titans equalized at 12-12 behind Destiny Hernandez before Santa Clara took the elad for the final time at 13-12 behind Avary Torres.  Sofia Moschetti scored tie the game at 13-13 with 2:23 left in the game.  She came back to score the game winner with 48 seconds left on a 5-meter penalty to give the Titans their final lead, 14-13.

The Titans led for most of the game over the Broncos before falling behind late.  However, the Titans were able to rally and score the game's final two goals over the final 2 minutes to secure the win over Santa Clara. 

Cal State Fullerton 5, Mount St. Mary's 4

The nightcap and final game of the Day One at the Convergence Tournament was a war of attrition defensively.  Destiny Hernandez continued her fantastic day in the pool as she scored three goals.  Mia Solorzano scored the other two.  Renske Boxsem made seven saves in the cage.

After Destiny Hernandez opened the scoring with 6:26 in the first quarter.  Both sides failed to generate offense for a long time before the Mountaineers got an equalizer with 45 seconds in the first quarter.

The second quarter remained a defensive battle as Anna Kegel scored the only goal of the quarter to give the Mountaineers a 2-1 lead after halftime.

The third quarter was the same until Lotte Schreurs scored to put Mount St. Mary's up 3-1 with 1:51 left in the quarter.

The Titans began wearing down the opposition as four players on Mount St. Mary's picked up their third and final exclusions in the second half.  Destiny Hernandez scored on a powerplay with six seconds left in the third to make it a 3-2 game after three.

Hernandez scored the next goal on a powerplay to put the Titans up 4-3 midway through the fourth quarter.

The Mounties found an equalizer with 2:15 left in the game behind Emily Hatcher to tie the game at 4-4.  The captain Mia Solorzano scored on the Titans next possession to make it 5-4 with 1:56 left.  The Titans defense was able to hold on strong the rest of the way to secure the victory.

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