LOS ANGELES – San Diego State water polo, the 4-seed and 22nd ranked, surrendered six first quarter goals and was not able to recover in a 16-9 loss to 3-seed and No. 21-ranked University of Pacific in the third-place game at the Golden Coast Conference Tournament at Burns Aquatic Center on the campus of Loyola Marymount on Sunday.
With the loss, the Aztecs finish the season in fourth place in the league standing with a 15-15 record, while UOP finishes in third place with a record of 14-10.
The Aztec offense was paced by Mimi Stoupas who finished with four goals on her 12th hat trick of the season and the seventh contest with at least four tallies in 2025. In addition, Lucy Bullock, Amanda Chambers, Sydney Gish, Shannon Murphy, and Julianne Stark scored a goal each.
In the cage, Mandy Lagerlof (1-3) played the first 16 minutes, giving up 11 goals, making five saves, and recording one steal. Tiaare Ahovelo came on in the second half, made two stops while surrendering five goals. Rose Kanemy, the program’s career assist leader, finished the game with a pair and completed her Aztec career with 203.
Stoupas got the game’s first goal, at 7:08 on a powerplay, to claim a 1-0 lead for SDSU, but the Tigers responded with five scores in the next four minutes. UOP tied the match at 6:06 and took a 2-1 lead at the 5:30 mark. They then moved ahead 3-1 with a goal at 4:36, 4-1 with 3:33 left in the first period, and 5-1 at the 2:51 mark. Bullock ended the run with 2:24 to go with a tally to make it 5-2, but Pacific responded to the Aztecs’ strike with its sixth of the opening eight minutes, scoring with 1:51 on the clock and sending the game to the second quarter with the Aztecs trailing 6-2.
Stoupas, like the first quarter, scored the initial goal of the second, 16 seconds in and on an assist by Claudia Valdes, but the Tigers needed just 18 seconds to get the goal back and it was 7-3 at 7:26. Following a Tigers’ timeout, UOP moved five goals ahead 8-3, at the 6:56 mark.
Stoupas got the hat trick to make it 8-4 with 4:42 to go before the half, but the four-goal deficit would be as close as San Diego State would get. Pacific pushed the lead back to five goals, 9-4, 22 seconds later and then 10-4 at the 2:52 mark. Gish made it 10-5 on an assist by Kanemy at 1:08, but 18 seconds later, on a powerplay, UOP got the goal back to send the game to the intermission with SDSU down 11-5.
Coming out of the half, Murphy got the opening goal of the third, at 7:15 with an assist credited to Kanemy, making the score 11-6. Pacific pushed its advantage back to six goals with its first score of the second half, a powerplay strike at 5:42. But Stoupas’ fourth goal, at 4:33 made it 12-7, with Sammi Byers getting an assist on the score. UOP needed just over a minute, 66 seconds, to go up 13-7. Chambers got into the scoring column with a goal with 2:48 left in the third to draw the Aztecs to within five, 13-8. It was 14-8 after the Tigers scored at the 2:13 mark. In the final minute of the quarter, the teams traded goals. Luna Sarmiento assisted on a Stark powerplay goal with 48 seconds left, but with 20 seconds on the clock, UOP scored to send the game to the final eight minutes with the totals at 15-9 in the favor of the Tigers.
The lone goal of the fourth quarter came just over halfway through the period, at 3:53, to give the Tigers the winning margin, 16-9.
San Diego State: 2-3-4-0 - 9
Pacific: 6-5-4-1 - 16
San Diego State Goals: Stoupas (4), Bullock, Chambers, Gish, Murphy, Stark
Pacific Goals: D. Alaksza (4), Petkov (4), Cowan (2), McGowan (2), Futorian, Jacobson, Johnston, Zlobinsky
San Diego State Saves: Lagerlof (5), Ahovelo (2)
Pacific Saves: Dulic (7), Cooper (4)