CLAREMONT, Calif. – LMU women's water polo (10-6) won both their games on Friday to open the Claremont Convergence. No. 12 LMU topped Cal State Monterey Bay in the morning game, 12-7, before defeating La Salle, 16-7, to finish the tournament's first day.
 
GAME 1: #12 LMU 12, CSUMB 7
 
The Lions opened the tournament with the first two goals of the day. Melyssa Moore scored at full strength and then Alena Sanchez added another less than a minute later on the powerplay with 4:11 to play. The two teams traded off goals for the final portion of the opening period with Sanchez completing her first quarter hat trick in the process.
 
Sanchez continued her scoring terror to open the second quarter, pushing LMU ahead 5-2. After the Otters scored the next two to make it a one-goal game, Kelsey Snelgar scored with seven seconds remaining in the half to make it a 6-4 game at intermission.
 
Monterey Bay cut their deficit in half in the opening minute of the second half. Abbey Grosse scored her only goal of the game and Sanchez added her fourth on a converted penalty to push LMU's lead to 8-5 at the 4:00 mark. The Otters scored the only goal in the final three minutes of the quarter.
 
Back-to-back goals by Snelgar set the tone to open the fourth quarter. Megan Plank and Ella Kraus extended the lead to a game-high six goals before CSUMB scored in the closing seconds to make it a 12-7 final.
 
Madison Davis made seven saves in 32 minutes as LMU's goalie.
 
Game 2: #12 LMU 16, La Salle 7
 
Less than a minute into the day's second game, Yanah Gerber and Mei Vilanova pushed the Lions ahead 2-0 with consecutive goals. La Salle did score once in the period, a goal in the final 10 seconds.
 
Melyssa Moore, Isabella Barajas, and Alexandra Akritidou opened the second quarter with three-straight goals, extending the lead to 5-1. After the Explorers added one back, Kelsey Snelgar and Gerber pushed it to an 8-2 game as Snelgar scored twice and Gerber added one. La Salle scored in the final minute to bring it to 8-3 at intermission.
 
Gerber and La Salle each scored twice to open the third quarter before Snelgar, Moore, and Grosse increased the lead to 13-5 with three unanswered goals.
 
The Explorers sandwiched two goals around Gerber's fifth of the day early in the fourth quarter, before Ella Krauss closed the game with the final two goals.