April 23, 2015
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Water Polo Weekly Release
Game Week Preview
(4) Azusa Pacific (10-15; 2-4 GCC) or (5) California Baptist (19-13; 2-4 GCC)
vs. (1) San Diego State (16-14; 6-0 GCC)
Friday, April 24 | Golden Coast Championship Semifinal | Chris Kjeldsen Pool | Stockton, Calif. | 3 p.m. PT
(1) San Diego State (16-14; 6-0 GCC) at Golden Coast Championship
Saturday, April 25 | GCC Third Place or Final | Chris Kjeldsen Pool | Stockton, Calif. | 1 p.m. PT or 2:30 p.m. PT
Storylines
- Top-seeded San Diego State heads to the 2015 Golden Coast Conference Championship this week at Chris Kjeldsen Pool on the campus of the University of the Pacific. The Aztecs received a bye into the semifinal round as a result of winning their second straight regular-season title and will face either fourth-seeded Azusa Pacific or the five-seed, California Baptist, on Friday at 3 p.m. PT.
- The Cougars-Lancers GCC quarterfinal tilt is scheduled for Thursday at 3 p.m. PT. That game, along with every game in the tournament, will be streamed live at PacificTigers.com. The winner of APU-CBU will advance to face SDSU on Friday. The loser of that contest will head to the third-place game on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT, with the victor earning a spot in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. PT final.
- Opposite of San Diego State in the GCC bracket is second-seeded Pacific, third-seeded LMU, sixth-seeded Santa Clara and seventh-seeded Fresno Pacific. The tournament will kick-off on Thursday with quarterfinal games featuring SCU-LMU at noon PT and FPU-Pacific at 1:30 p.m. PT, before giving way to APU-CBU.
- For the second consecutive season, the Aztecs are the top-seeded team in the field. In 2014, the Golden Coast's inaugural campaign, San Diego State navigated the regular season with an unblemished 6-0 record and bypassed the quarterfinal round. SDSU ended up beating Pacific, 9-6, before falling in the championship game on the road at LMU, 10-9, in sudden-victory overtime.
- San Diego State beat both of its prospective semifinal opponents by narrow margins this season. The Aztecs snapped California Baptist's four-game winning streak with an 11-9 victory in Riverside back in early March and downed Azusa Pacific, 9-8, at home on April 10.
- In the game at CBU, the Aztecs led, 6-3, at hafltime only to have the Lancers outscore the visitors, 4-2, in the third quarter. With San Diego State ahead, 8-7, as the fourth period began, SDSU overwhelmed California Baptist with three goals in the first two-plus minutes. The Lancers scored once during the Aztecs' flurry and only once more in the final 5 minutes, 30 seconds as San Diego State improved to 2-0 in league play.
- More recently vs. APU, San Diego State had its hands full. The Aztecs trailed, 3-2, after one period and were tied at 4-4 after two quarters of action. Both teams scored once in the third frame as the game moved to final eight minutes deadlocked at 5-5. Just like the game vs. California Baptist, SDSU blitzed the Cougars in the fourth by scoring four times to take a 9-5 lead with 4 minutes, 37 seconds remaining. Azusa Pacific, however, made the score close with three goals down the stretch, but the final one occurred with 1.3 seconds left on the game clock and its comeback attempt ran out of time. The victory secured San Diego State's second straight 6-0 conference record.
- California Baptist ended its regular-season slate on the road last weekend with a loss to Pacific and a win at Fresno Pacific. The Lancers dropped a tight 12-11 decision to the Tigers and squeezed out a 10-9 victory over the Sunbirds. California Baptist closed the campaign with five straight league games and went 2-3 in the process. One of its losses was to Azusa Pacific on the road, 9-8.
- Azusa Pacific comes into the GCC Championship having split its final two games after suffering the one-goal setback at San Diego State. Last week, the Cougars downed Concordia at home, 10-9, before falling at Santa Clara in the GCC regular-season finale, 14-6. The loss finalized a three-way tie for fourth place featuring APU, CBU and SCU.
- The Aztecs will look to continue their undefeated mark in the month of April after they downed UC San Diego on Saturday to reclaim the Harper Cup. The Tritons took the Cup for the first time last season, but it returned to the mantel it was proudly displayed on for the 12 years prior after SDSU earned a 6-3 victory. San Diego State led, 5-0, in the third quarter before UCSD dented the scoreboard and was ahead, 6-1, entering the fourth period. Senior Anique Hermann was named MVP after scoring on both of her shot attempts and adding two steals.
- On Tuesday, the Golden Coast announced its postseason awards and highlighting the list was Caroline Israels, who was named the Co-Player of the Year along with Pacific's Anna Kertes, and voted to the all-conference first team. Israels became the Aztecs' second player of the year in school history and first since 1996, when Heather Moody was named the MPSF Southern Division Co-Player of the Year. Joining Israels on the first team was Ioli Benekou, which marked her second straight honor in as many seasons. Rachel Mitchell earned a spot on the second team and Hermann was an honorable mention selection. Nikki de Roos, meanwhile, became SDSU's first-ever all-GCC freshman team pick. The five Aztecs tied a school record for most players recognized for postseason awards (1998).