TEMPE, Ariz. — Azusa Pacific water polo fell to a pair of ranked opponents Saturday to finish off the Arizona State Cross Conference Challenge, losing to No. 25 ranked Marist 14-8 before being defeated by No. 22 ranked Harvard 14-7.

The Cougars' leading scorer, Milena Guzmán Ortiz tallied five goals across the two games including a hat trick in game one. 

How it Happened (Game 1): In the first three minutes of the game, Marist took a two-goal lead but the Cougars responded with a pair of their own (both coming from Guzmán Ortiz) before the period was over to tie it at 2-apiece. 

Marist would retake a two-goal advantage in the second before Maritza Ochoa scored her first of the game to make it 4-3. The Red Foxes scored two unanswered taking their largest lead of the first half, 6-3 before Kyra Kahahawai scored before the half to cut the deficit to two.

Marist continued to stretch its lead in the third period as they tallied three of the first four goals to create a 9-5 lead. The two teams each tallied one more in the final two minutes to make it 10-6 entering the fourth. Grace Pugh and Kahahawai were the two Cougars to score in the third.

María Boix Pascual scored her first goal of the game to cut the advantage to just three goals to start the fourth period before the Red Foxes would score three straight to put the game away before winning 14-8. Guzmán Ortiz tallied her third goal of the game late in the fourth.

How it Happened (Game 2): Harvard started strong outscoring Azusa Pacific 5-1 in the opening period as Skylar Ford was the Cougars' goal scorer.

Guzmán Ortiz scored with a power-play goal to make it 5-2 in the second but the Crimson kept extending their lead eventually taking an 8-3 lead into halftime. Then in the third quarter, Harvard kept the Cougars scoreless and tallied four more goals to take a 12-3 lead into the fourth period.

The Cougars would win the battle of the fourth quarter but lost the match, 14-7. In the final period, Boix Pascual scored twice while Guzmán Ortiz and Kahahawai each scored once.

Up Next: This upcoming Friday, March 18th Azusa Pacific will travel to Irvine, Calif. to take on Concordia in a conference matchup. The game is set to start at 1:30 p.m.