April 30, 2011
SAN JOSE, Calif. - For the second day in a row, the No. 9 San Diego State women's water polo team (20-14) lost in action at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament in San Jose, Calif., this time being outscored on Saturday by No. 5 Hawai'i, 14-10.
Seventh-seeded SDSU will now prepare for a seventh-place match on at 10 a.m. PT on Sunday, May 1, against eighth-seeded Arizona State (11-14).
Sunday started off well for the Aztecs, who capitalized twice on the power play in the opening minutes for a quick 2-0 lead. SDSU would soon find itself in penalty trouble itself, however, and the Rainbow Wahine (18-8) took advantage with a four-goal outburst, three of them coming on the man advantage.
Trailing 4-2 at the start of the second quarter, sophomore Amber Pezzolla got things rolling for the Aztecs when she won her sprint, carried the offense down the pool, then scorched a shot past Hawai'i goalkeeper Sara Gralitzer to cut the lead to one. That would be the closest SDSU came all game to their competition from the Aloha State, as the two teams would trade goals for the remainder of the quarter, with Hawai'i entering halftime with a 7-5 advantage.
SDSU was generating a large quantity of shots through the first 16 minutes, but Gralitzer's eight first-half saves proved to be the difference. Senior Sarah Brady led the Aztecs in scoring with two goals, while Hawai'i received each of its points from a different scorer. Meanwhile, junior goalkeeper Kelly Campoli's three first-half saves moved her past Aztec alum Heather Fenske for fourth place in SDSU single-season history.
In the second half, junior Meaghan Poland gave the Aztecs a spark at 7:20 with her first goal of this year's MPSF Tournament. Following a developing trend, Hawai'i answered back at 6:04 to re-extend their lead back to two. Penalties would once again hamper the Aztec's ability to gain momentum, as two straight 6-on-5 goals gave the Rainbow Wahine a 10-6 lead, their largest of the contest. Not to be deterred, senior Ronni Gautschi would energize the Aztecs when she scored with under a minute left, cutting their deficit to three entering the final frame.
Following the break, Brady would complete her hat trick at 6:56, mounting the stage for a comeback. Hawai'i, however, refused to entertain the idea and answered back 35 seconds later with a goal by Amarens Genee, also her third of the game. Goals by Pezzolla and Poland would close out the scoring the rest of the way for SDSU, while Hawai'i finished their day with three more goals to seal its 14-10 victory.
"We took a good number of shots, just not a great number of quality shots," said head coach Carin Crawford."If we would have been more patient running our offense today, we would have been more successful this afternoon. Scoring 10 goals today is pretty good but we turned the ball over too quickly, which gave them more opportunities to run their offense. We want to go out tomorrow and execute to show how hard we have worked all season."
Despite Crawford's concerns over the team's patience, the Aztecs have been very successful lately during the first minute following intermissions. Including Saturday's game, SDSU has now scored first in each of the last nine quarters of play, which dates back to the fourth quarter of the Harper Cup against UC San Diego on April 22.
No. 9 San Diego State 10, No. 5 Hawai'i 14
The Aquatics Center - San Jose, Calif.
SDSU 2-3-2-3--10
Hawai'i 4-3-3-4--14
SDSU goals: Brady 3, Gautschi 2, Pezzolla 2, Poland 2, L. Ford
Hawai'i goals: M. Eggens 3, Genee 3, C. Eggens 2, Majrui 2, Van Der Moler 2, McKee, Wilson
SDSU saves: Campoli - 3; Abrams - 1
Hawai'i saves: Gralitzer - 13