LA JOLLA, Calif. – In what was the highest scoring of the 23 iterations of the Harper Cup, the No. 21 San Diego State water polo team lost 18-16 to No. 13 UC San Diego on Saturday afternoon at Cliffview Aquatic Center.
The 34 combined goals eclipse the previous high of 22 from the 2011 game and each team’s individual goal total are more than either team has scored in a game since the series started in 2002. Neither team was able to forge more than a single-goal lead, until the final two minutes of the game.
The Aztecs (14-13) had Claudia Valdes lead them in scoring with five goals. Sammi Byers and Mimi Stoupas finished with hat tricks, while Shannon Murphy scored twice and Lucy Bullock, Amanda Chambers and Rose Kanemy had a goal apiece. Tiaare Ahovelo played the first half, made six saves while nine made their way past her, while Mandy Lagerlof, the goalie of record (1-1), playing the second half surrendered nine goals while making seven saves.
Kanemy finished the game with six assists, matching her single-game career best, which she set against Concordia on April 28, 2023. Stoupas, with her first score of the game, reached the 100-goal plateau and finished the game with 102 for her career.
Kanemy got the scoring started for the Aztecs 36 seconds in on a powerplay goal which was assisted by Bullock. The Tritons tied it up 20 seconds later, but Murphy put the Scarlet and Black back in front with a strike at 6:46. However, UCSD put back-to-back goals together and led 3-2 with five minutes to go in the period. At the 4:04 mark Murphy struck again on an assist by Kanemy, to level the score at 3-3 and Stoupas put SDSU back in front on a powerplay at 2:06.
The Tritons got back on level terms with a score with 1:45 on the clock tying the game 4-4, but 15 second later, Byers bent the net to make it 5-4 Aztecs, which was the score at the end of the quarter.
UCSD scored the opening goal of the second stanza, 25 second in, to tie the contest at 5-5 and then forged ahead on a strike at the 6:59 mark. Valdes tied it back up at 6-6 with her first of the game, on a powerplay with 6:07 on the clock. On the score, Kanemy was credited with her second assist of the day. The teams then traded goals within a 16-second period. The Tritons went first with a goal with five minutes to go before the half, but Stoupas knotted it at 7-7, on an assist by Murphy, with 4:44 left on the clock.
UC San Diego went back ahead with 4:15 to go, but 30 seconds later, at the 3:45 mark Byers picked up the equalizer making it 8-8. The Tritons last goal of the first half, with 3:11 to go, put them back in front, but after a successful penalty shot from Byers, and the game went to the intermission tied 9-9.
Coming out of the break, the Scarlet and Black went ahead with a Kanemy powerplay goal at 6:33. Valdes was credited with an assist on the strike, but UCSD got the goal back 19 seconds later to knot it at 10-10. Twenty-two seconds later Stoupas scored, with an assist to Byers, and SDSU was up 11-10. UC San Diego then got the equalizer, and it was 11-11 with 3:31 on the clock.
With 2:03 in the third, Valdes assisted on Chambers’ powerplay tally, but it took only 20 seconds for UCSD to tie it at 12-12 and then take the lead 13-12 at the 1:09 mark, which was the score heading to the final stanza.
At the 6:06 mark, San Diego State tied the game at 13-13 pm a Bullock tally with Kanemy getting her third assist of the game. From 5:00 to 4:38, the teams traded goals. The Tritons scored first to go up one, but Valdes tied it for the 13th time with Kanemy getting a fourth assist. Then with 3:52 on the clock UC San Diego scored and 46 seconds later Valdes made it 15-15. UCSD again went up a goal on a strike with 2:32 to play, but Valdes tied it again, 16-16 on a penalty shot. The Tritons scored twice in the final 1:42 to earn the 18-16 win.
San Diego State: 5-4-3-4 - 16
UC San Diego: 4-5-4-5 - 18
San Diego State Goals: Valdes (5), Byers (3), Stoupas (3), Murphy (2), Bullock, Chambers, Kanemy
UC San Diego Goals: Christi (5), Thomas (4), Doak (2), Okumura (2), Cloherty, Larson, S. Munatones, S. Munatones
San Diego State Saves: Lagerlof (7) Ahovelo (6)
UC San Diego Saves: Fake (7)