April 17, 2016
SAN DIEGO - No. 14 San Diego State fell in its Senior Day contest on Sunday to fourth-ranked Arizona State, 9-3, at Aztec Aquaplex. The loss evened SDSU's overall record to 15-15 on the season, while the Sun Devils moved to 18-6.
The Aztecs traded goals with ASU in the first quarter with the Sun Devils striking first on a Maud Koopman attempt just over two minutes into the contest. It didn't take long for SDSU to respond as Ioli Benekou went top shelf from long range to knot the score 28 seconds later. A touch-shot goal from Arizona State's Lena Mihailovic gave the visitors the lead once again, but San Diego State answered with 42 seconds left in the frame when Nikole Ferrari found Caroline Israels for a 6-on-5 goal. The Aztecs, however, could not escape with the game tied as they allowed another Koopman goal with 12 seconds left.
The final ASU goal of the first quarter proved to be the turning point in the contest as the Sun Devils went on to score three unanswered goals in the second period. The visitors received a second goal from Mihailovic and a pair from Daisy Carter, one that went bar-in and another on a 6-on-5 situation. San Diego State's offense, meanwhile, stalled in the quarter and it went into halftime trailing, 6-2.
SDSU stopped the Arizona State scoring run with a third-quarter power-play goal from Israels with just under six minutes left until the start of the final period. But ASU found way to add to two more goals, one from Katie Sverchek and yet another from Koopman, this time on a penalty shot, to move ahead, 8-3.
In the final eight minutes, the Sun Devils kept SDSU from scoring while receiving a second goal from Sverchek, which provided the final margin.
San Diego State recognized its five seniors in Nikole Ferrari, Taylor Gums, Rachel Mitchell, Nika Sedghi and Tayla Walsh on a 90-degree afternoon in America's Finest City. Ferrari had an assist and one steal, which moved her into a ninth-place tie in the school record book, giving her 178 for her career. Gums also had one steal while seeing action in her 104th career outing. Mitchell made six saves to increase her career total to 1,195, which is the second most in program history. Sedghi, the Mountain West Conference and San Diego State SAAC president, sat out the game due to injury. Lastly, Walsh had a team-high-tying three steals.
The Aztecs will spend the next few days preparing for their regular-season finale, which also doubles as the annual Harper Cup game vs. UC San Diego. The road game is scheduled for Friday, April 22, at 6 p.m. PT in Canyonview Pool. In 14 Harper Cup games, San Diego State has claimed the trophy 13 times, including last season's 6-3 triumph.
No. 4 Arizona State 9, No. 14 San Diego State 3
Aztec Aquaplex; San Diego, Calif.
ASU 3-3-2-1-9
SDSU 2-0-1-0-3
ASU goals: Koopman 3, Carter 2, Mihailovic 2, Sverchek 2
SDSU goals: Israels 2, Benekou
ASU saves: unavailable
SDSU saves: Mitchell 6