April 15, 2015
SAN DIEGO -
Game Week Preview
UC San Diego (16-17; 3-0 WWPA) at No. 18 San Diego State (15-14; 6-0 GCC)
Saturday, April 18 | Aztec Aquaplex | San Diego, Calif. | Noon PT
Storylines
- No. 18 San Diego State will conclude its regular-season schedule on Saturday at noon PT when it plays host to the 14th annual Harper Cup game against UC San Diego at Aztec Aquaplex. Admission for the Senior Day contest is free.
- The Aztecs will look to snatch the Harper Cup away from the Tritons after they defeated SDSU in La Jolla last season. San Diego State is 12-1 all-time in the yearly game between the two San Diego universities and 6-0 when it is the home team.
- A year ago, UC San Diego took home the Harper Cup with an 8-5 victory in which it never trailed. All four players who scored for the Aztecs are back for this game. Caroline Israels led the team with two goals, and Ioli Benekou, Alyssa Diacono and Nikole Ferrari all posted one goal. As for the Tritons, six of their eight goals from last year are back after Leah Gonzales, who scored twice, graduated.
- 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 SDSU in 1978, and coached the UCSD women's team to five collegiate national championships from 1985-1999.
- Prior to winning both of last week's home games, San Diego State was averaging 3.7 goals in its previous three contests. The Aztecs, who were averaging 8.3 goals in their last six home games, continued their trend of scoring at Aztec Aquaplex, compiling 24 goals. The Harper Cup home game will also be an encouraging sign as SDSU has averaged 10.5 goals in six Cup dates as the designated home side, while allowing just 5.8 goals.
- The loss to UC San Diego in the Harper Cup and earlier this season at the UCSD Triton Invitational put an end to a dominating showing San Diego State enjoyed over the Tritons. Prior to the defeat in 2014, the Aztecs had won 21 consecutive games vs. UCSD and had not experienced a loss since Feb. 10, 2002. Despite the two most recent losses, SDSU is still 21-2 (.913) in its last 23 vs. UC San Diego.
- The Aztecs enter the annual Harper Cup game after defeating Azusa Pacific and Santa Clara last week to complete a perfect 6-0 Golden Coast season and claim their second straight GCC regular-season title. In the two-year history of the league, SDSU has owned the regular season by posting a 12-0 record.
- San Diego State dismissed APU, 9-8, in game that was 4-4 at halftime and saw the Aztecs pull away in the third and fourth quarters. The Cougars narrowed their deficit to 9-7 with 1:48 left before adding one final tally with 11 seconds left to provide the final margin. Diacono led all players with three goals and was joined in the scoring column by Benekou (2), Ferrari, Israels and Anique Hermann. Rachel Mitchell had a game-high 11 saves.
- In the GCC finale vs. Santa Clara, the Aztecs came out and made a statement early, scoring the first two goals and never looking back. At one point, SDSU scored five unanswered goals and led, 7-1, in the second quarter before settling for an 8-3 lead at halftime. San Diego State ultimately went on to win, 15-9, with the 15 goals representing a season high. Israels scored five goals, all in the second half, and Diacono and Taylor Gums each posted hat tricks. Hermann and Carina Carballo added one goal apiece with Mitchell making six stops.
- Diacono had a productive two games to help San Diego State clinch the outright conference title. The sophomore posted hat tricks in both games and scored six goals on eight shot attempts. In the game vs. the Broncos, Diacono went 3-for-3 and scored a pair of key goals in the first quarter to help SDSU take a 4-1 lead. She later added another before halftime to propel the Aztecs to a five-goal advantage. She also added two steals and drew two ejections. Diacono enters the Harper Cup with 30 goals and 21 steals.
- Israels tied Diacono for the team lead with six goals scored last week after posting one vs. Azusa Pacific and five vs. Santa Clara. The sophomore has scored in eight consecutive games (21 goals) and in 19 of her last 20 outings (42 goals). For the season, she has a team-best 55 goals, which includes 19 multi-goal performances (eight hat tricks), and a team-high 50 steals.
- On Saturday, San Diego State will recognize its three seniors -- utility Carina Carballo, driver Anique Hermann and goalkeeper Emily Tylka. Carballo has played in 126 games and amassed 47 goals, 44 assists and 122 steals in four seasons. Hermann, who is also a four-year Aztec, has posted 148 goals, 156 assists (third in SDSU history) and 230 steals (fifth in SDSU history) in 130 games. Tylka, meanwhile, has seen action in 11 games over the last three seasons. The goalkeeper from Mundelein, Illinois has 39 saves to her credit, a goals-against average of 5.52, two assists and five steals.
- UC San Diego will head to Montezuma Mesa riding a three-game winning streak after defeating Cal State Monterey Bay, Sonoma State and Cal State Easy Bay in Northern California two weeks ago. The schools last saw each other in mid-March when the Tritons were participants at the Aztec Invitational where they went 2-2. UCSD, however, won the only meeting between the teams back in February in La Jolla when SDSU could not hold onto a 6-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter before falling, 9-7.