April 10, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The 11th-ranked San Diego State water polo team fell to No. 3 Stanford, 6-2, in the first game of the day and came back to defeat Pomona-Pitzer in game two, 17-2, Sunday afternoon at the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center. With the split, the Aztecs' record now stands at 11-13 overall and 2-9 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
In the game versus Stanford, the Cardinal jumped out to an early 3-1 lead after one quarter. Stanford's Katie Hansen scored the first two goals of the game and Scotti Shafer chipped in with a goal of her own with 53 seconds left to give the visitors a three-goal cushion. SDSU freshman Becca Ur responded with 18 seconds left when she found the back of the net for her 14th goal of the season.
In the second quarter, both teams struggled to score until Stanford's Hannah Luber put one past Aztec goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore at the 1:43 mark. SDSU was held scoreless for the period and found itself trailing, 4-1, at halftime.
Things did not get better for the Aztecs as they were shut out for a second consecutive quarter while allowing the Cardinal to increase its lead to 6-1 at the end of three. Luber and Christina Hewko tallied goals for Stanford in the final 1:25 to pad its lead going into the fourth quarter.
SDSU turned the tables on Stanford as it held the Cardinal scoreless in the final seven minutes. But their effort proved to be not enough as the Aztecs only scored once on a Susan Stivers shot from nine meters out to give the game its final score.
A couple hours later, SDSU looked to snap its three-match losing streak with a game against Division III Pomona-Pitzer with freshman goalkeeper Niki Lolis getting her first start of her career.
In the first quarter, the Aztecs jumped out to a 3-0 first quarter lead. Rachel Serna scored the game's first goal on a pass from Elana Cervantes at the 4:41 mark. Less than a minute later, Dominique Delgado fired a shot past Sagehen goalkeeper Carolyn Kiefer and then added another one 45 seconds later to give SDSU a three-goal advantage.
It was more of the same in the second quarter as the Aztecs scored on four different occasions to give themselves at 7-0 lead at the half. Monica DeRosier began things with her eighth goal of the 2005 campaign at the 5:32 mark. Stivers added her second goal of the day and Serna chipped in with two more goals to give SDSU a lead it would not relinquish.
Lolis ended the half with six saves and gave way to fellow classmate Heather Fenske at intermission.
In the third period, Lauren Moore got the Sagehens on the board with her shot at the 6:05 mark. A minute later, Serna scored her fourth goal of the game on a penalty shot to increase the Aztecs' lead to 8-1. The junior's goal led to three more SDSU goals, one apiece from Cervantes, Delgado and Taylor Cranney, before Pomona-Pitzer's Lara Kruska found the back of the net to make the score 11-2 in favor of the Aztecs.
The final period saw SDSU tie a season-high for goals in a quarter with six. Savanah Kelley scored within the first 40 seconds of the quarter and was followed by two goals from DeRosier and one each from Cia Cobb, Stivers and Cervantes. The last time the Aztecs scored six goals in a period was on Feb. 25 against Marist at the UCSB Invitational.
Fenske made seven saves in her first game of the season.
SDSU will be action next weekend, April 16-17, when they play at the Long Beach State Tournament. The Aztecs are scheduled to play Cal State Bakersfield at 10:20 a.m. and Hartwick College at 1:50 p.m. on April 16. On the final day of the tournament, SDSU will take on Michigan at 9:10 a.m.
#3 Stanford 6, #11 San Diego State 2
#3 STAN 3-1-2-0--6#11 SDSU 1-0-0-1--2
STAN Goals: Katie Hansen - 2, Hannah Luber - 2, Christina Hewko, Scotti Shafer
SDSU Goals: Susan Stivers, Becca Ur
STAN Goalie Saves: Meredith McColl - 4
SDSU Goalie Saves: Sarah Kilgore - 5
#11 San Diego State 17, Pomona-Pitzer 2
PP 0-0-2-0--2#11 SDSU 3-4-4-6--17
PP Goals: Lauren Moore, Lara Kruska
SDSU Goals: Rachel Serna - 4, Dominique Delgado - 3, Monica DeRosier - 3, Elana Cervantes - 2, Susan Stivers - 2, Cia Cobb, Taylor Cranney, Savanah Kelley
PP Goalie Saves: Carolyn Kiefer - 1, Elena Piefer - 2
SDSU Goalie Saves: Niki Lolis - 6, Heather Fenske - 7