April 20, 2006
LA JOLLA, Calif. - The eighth-ranked San Diego State water polo team earned its fifth consecutive Harper Cup victory with a 6-5 effort over No. 15 UC San Diego in Canyonview Pool Thursday evening. Junior Stacy Werner earned most valuable player honors after posting a season-high tying six steals, one goal and one assist. The win gives the Aztecs its ninth season with at least 20 wins as they improve to 20-9 on the season, while the Tritons fall to 15-15.
SDSU struggled in the first quarter and allowed UCSD to jump out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by Natalie Hockett and Nicole Hermann within the first five minutes of play. Freshman Anna Gonzales finally got the Aztecs on the board with 1:08 showing on the clock to cut the Triton lead in half. But with 40 seconds left in the opening period, UCSD's Kirsten Frazer found the back of the net to give the Tritons a two-goal cushion heading into the second period.
In the second frame, both schools turned up the defensive pressure, but it was the Aztecs who kept UC San Diego off the scoreboard. The Tritons, however, put forth a strong defensive performance until junior Elana Cervantes attempted a shot as time expired on the 6-on-5 opportunity with freshman Ashling Taylor rebounding the miss and putting it past UCSD keeper Kaitlin Foe. A minute later, after a UC San Diego midcourt ejection and an SDSU timeout, Werner fired a shot into the upper right-hand corner of the cage to increase the Aztec lead. Then with under a minute to play, SDSU drew an ejection at 2-meters and took full advantage of the opportunity as senior Rachel Serna gave the Aztecs one-goal lead with her team-leading 39th goal of the season.
Both teams played even in the third quarter as they each scored twice in the quarter. UCSD tied the score at 4-4 when Hockett recorded her second goal of the game, but SDSU responded when junior Ashley McCullum scored from the left side of the pool. Freshman Jenna Schuster widened the gap when she placed her shot into the far left corner of the net, but the Tritons answered back with a goal of their own making the score 6-5 in favor of the visitors.
The fourth quarter was a battle as both teams made big defensive plays throughout the final seven minutes. But down the stretch, the Aztecs made two stops as the Tritons were making a fierce rally. With SDSU down a player, UCSD moved the ball around the pool and it took a tremendous effort from Aztec goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore (six saves) to hold the SDSU lead with one minute remaining. The ensuing play saw the Aztecs turn the ball over at the middle of the pool due to a shot clock violation. Then with the Tritons looking for an opening, they threw the ball inside only to have Gonzales steal the ball with less the 20 seconds left in the game and the Aztecs ran out the clock for their fifth straight Harper Cup victory.
Werner joins Heather Stiles, Amber Prestegard, Holly Hartzell and Dominique Delgado as players to have won most valuable player honors.
San Diego State will close the regular season this Sunday, April 22, at Arizona State. The regular and conference finale is set for a noon PDT start.
#8 San Diego State 6, #15 UC San Diego 5
SDSU 1-3-2-0---6UCSD 3-0-2-0---5
San Diego State goals: Anna Gonzales, Ashley McCullum, Rachel Serna, Jenna Schuster, Ashling Taylor, Stacy Werner
UC San Diego goals: Natalie Hockett 2, Sarah Bajorek, Kirsten Frazer, Nicole Hermann
San Diego State goalie saves: Sarah Kilgore - 6
UC San Diego goalie saves: Kaitlin Foe - 5