April 18, 2015
SAN DIEGO - No. 18 San Diego State defeated UC San Diego, 6-3, Saturday afternoon at Aztec Aquaplex to recapture the Harper Cup. The Senior Day victory propelled SDSU to 16-14 on the season as it heads into next week's Golden Coast Championship.
The Aztecs scored the first five goals in a game that it controlled with its defense. San Diego State broke the scoreless tie with 3:32 left in the first quarter after GCC Player of the Week Alyssa Diacono muscled through two defenders to score at center. Then with just over a minute to play, Nikole Ferrari found Caroline Israels, who scored for the ninth straight outing.
Israels increased SDSU's cushion with a goal on the team's first possession of the second quarter. The contest looked as if it would head into halftime with the Aztecs leading 3-0, but Ferrari spotted an open Aztec, this time Carina Carballo, and the senior tickled the twine with 23 seconds left to lift the home side to a 4-0 lead at intermission.
The SDSU offense-defense balance continued into the third quarter with the offense led by Anique Hermann. The Aztecs scored her first of the afternoon with 5:06 remaining and later added an additional goal with 38 seconds left off a pass from Ioli Benekou. Sandwiched between Hermann tallies was UCSD's first goal of the game, which was compliments of Jolene Guiliana on a 6-on-5 opportunity (1:45).
The Tritons tacked on a second goal with just under six minutes to play in regulation. After being whistled for an ejection, SDSU killed the power play, but UC San Diego was awarded another 6-on-5 chance, one in which it scored off a Laurel Kistler attempt. The junior later scored one more time, this one occurring with 3:13 left. That completed the scoring for the day.
The anchor of the San Diego State defense was goalkeeper Rachel Mitchell, who was stellar in net. The junior made big save after big save and finished with nine stops. Mitchell later gave way for SDSU's third senior, Emily Tylka, in the fourth quarter.
At the conclusion of the game, Hermann was named the most valuable player. The San Diego native scored on both her attempts, had two steals and drew one ejection.
The Harper Cup is named for UC San Diego men's water polo head coach Denny Harper, who played at San Diego State as an undergraduate and established the SDSU women's water polo club team. Harper graduated from San Diego State in 1978, and coached the UCSD women's team to five collegiate national championships from 1985-1999.
One season after losing the Cup to the Tritons, San Diego State brought the coveted trophy back to Montezuma Mesa. The Aztecs are now 13-1 all-time in the annual game and a perfect 7-0 at home.
SDSU, which is undefeated in the month of April, will return to action on Friday when it competes in the semifinal round of the GCC Championship in Stockton. The Aztecs are the No. 1 seed as a result of winning the regular-season title for the second straight year. The game is set for 3 p.m. PT, but its opponent has not been determined.
No. 18 San Diego State 6, UC San Diego 3
Aztec Aquaplex; San Diego, Calif.
UCSD 0-0-1-2--3
SDSU 2-2-2-0--6
UCSD goals: Kistler 2, Guiliana
SDSU goals: Hermann 2, Israels 2, Carballo, Diacono
UCSD saves: Miller 6
SDSU saves: Mitchell 9
MVP: Hermann