Jan. 30, 2010
SAN DIEGO - With more than 25 San Diego State alumni in attendance, No. 6 SDSU held on to defeat the Alumni squad, 14-12, Saturday afternoon at Aztec Aquaplex. The victory was the Aztecs' third straight over the former Scarlet and Black letterwinners.
San Diego State dented the scoreboard first just 21 seconds into the game as Ashley Novack took advantage of a 6-on-5 opportunity and found the back of the net to give the current Aztecs a 1-0 lead. Only moments later, SDSU was called for a penalty and the Alumni knotted the game at 1-1 when Amber Prestegard put her shot past Kelly Campoli. From there, San Diego State took control of the game, receiving single goals from Melissa de Jonckheere, Ronni Gautschi off a feed from Sarah Brady, and Kimmy Keach as the quarter was nearing an end to take a 4-1 lead into the second period.
Courtney Muller added to SDSU's lead with 5:24 left in the half after she scored on a one-on-one opportunity off a fast-break sequence, but the Alumni got that goal back when Stacy Werner skipped her shot past Campoli to make the score, 5-2. Muller, however, continued her stellar second-quarter play by responding with her second and third goals of the stanza to help the Aztecs jump out to a 7-2 lead. Then with less than four minutes remaining in the first half, Rachel Miller and Hilary Whelan scored their first goals of the game and Dominique Delgado notched one for the Alumni as San Diego State went into halftime sporting a 9-3 lead.
After a halftime ceremony honoring the 2000 team, Prestegard, a member of that squad, cut into the Aztecs' lead after her shot was skipped in from the right. Brady answered with her first goal of the game only 25 seconds later, but the Alumni's Cassie Zebisch scored on a 6-on-4 chance to make the score 10-5 in favor of the current Aztecs. Soon thereafter, Meaghan Poland notched her first goal of the game and her score was answered by Prestegard's third goal of the game. Then in the final minutes, Samantha Voigt, Erinn Greenwood, Miller and Jackie Lopez Martinez all found the back of the cage as San Diego State maintained its lead (13-8) going into the final quarter.
After outscoring the Aztecs, 5-4, in the third, the Alumni opened the fourth period looking to take the victory away from SDSU. Jessica Pace Bowers and Stacy Werner each scored within 29 seconds of each other to cuts its deficit to 13-10. The game remained scoreless for the next three-plus minutes, until Donna Stivers Pilkington provided the Alumni's 11th goal of the game as they continued their furious comeback. Then with 1:12 left in regulation, San Diego State finally ended its scoring drought when Kim Lewis scored to stretch the team's lead to 14-11. Coming out of a timeout, Prestegard wasted little time after an exclusion was called and she scored her fourth goal of the game with just over a minute to go to make it a two-goal affair. But with time ticking off the clock, San Diego State was able to survive the Alumni's valiant comeback as it emerged with the 14-12 win.
The Scarlet and Black will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 5, when they play host to Marist. Game time is set for 3 p.m. PT.
San Diego State Alumni Game
Aztec Aquaplex (San Diego, Calif.)
Alumni 1-2-5-4--12 #6 San Diego State 4-5-4-1--14Alumni goals: Amber Prestegard - 4, Stacy Werner - 2, Dominique Delgado, Cassie Zebisch, Erinn Greenwood, Jackie Lopez Martinez, Jessica Pace Bowers, Donna Stivers Pilkington
SDSU goals: Courtney Muller - 3, Rachel Miller - 2, Ashley Novack, Melissa de Jonckheere, Ronni Gautschi, Kimmy Keach, Hilary Whelan, Sarah Brady, Meaghan Poland, Samantha Voigt, Kim Lewis