April 22, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The 14th-ranked San Diego State water polo team scored seven unanswered goals to defeat No. 18 UC San Diego, 9-4, in the fourth annual Harper Cup Friday evening at the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center. The win is the Aztecs' fourth Harper Cup victory and improves their record to 13-16 on the season, while the Tritons fall to 15-16.
SDSU started the game with a Rachel Serna goal 41 seconds into the first quarter to take the early lead. Moments later, UCSD's Sarah Bajorek found the back of the net to even the score at 1-1, but that is when the Aztecs took over the game. With 1:22 left in the opening quarter, Dominique Delgado scored to give SDSU a 2-1 advantage and a lead it would not relinquish.
The Aztecs scored on their first two possessions of the second quarter to take a three goal lead. Stacy Werner started things off with a goal at the 5:54 mark and Serna followed with her second goal of the game 30 seconds later. As the first half winded down, Savanah Kelley took a pass from Werner to score her 15th goal of the season and Serna recorded a hat trick with 48 seconds left to give the home team a five-goal cushion.
In the third, the Aztec offense kept the pressure on the Tritons as Elana Cervantes scored from eight meters out and Kelley added her second of the contest to give SDSU an 8-1 lead. UCSD finally got back on the scoreboard with 3:30 left in the third quarter when Tobi Lyman put a shot past Aztec goalkeeper Sarah Kilgore. SDSU responded minutes later when Lyman was ejected and Ashley McCullum scored on the 6-on-5 opportunity. The Tritons got the goal back when Becca Ur was called for a penalty and Courtney Clevenger scored on the ensuing penalty shot.
Down 9-3, UC San Diego was able to keep SDSU off the scoreboard during the final seven minutes, but its offense scored only once, on a Clevenger shot with 5:19 remaining, as the Aztecs stayed undefeated in Harper Cup contests.
Kilgore made a game-high eight saves for SDSU, while Kaitlin Foe tallied two saves for UCSD.
The Most Valuable Player of the game was Delgado who scored one goal, dished out three assists and recorded a steal. Past players who have won the award include Heather Stiles, Amber Prestegard and Holly Hartzell.
The Aztecs will be action Sunday as they take on Arizona State in the regular season finale at the Kroc Community Center. The "Senior Day" game is slated for a noon start.
#14 San Diego State 9, #18 UC San Diego 4
#18 UCSD 1-0-2-1---4#14 SDSU 2-4-3-0---9
UCSD goals: Courtney Clevenger - 2, Sarah Bajorek, Tobi Lyman
SDSU goals: Rachel Serna - 3, Savanah Kelley - 2, Elana Cervantes, Dominique Delgado, Ashley McCullum, Stacy Werner
UCSD goalie saves: Kaitlin Foe - 2
SDSU goalie saves: Sarah Kilgore - 8