Feb. 11, 2007
LA JOLLA, Calif. - Despite three goals by sophomore Anna Gonzales (Fresno, Calif.), the sixth-ranked San Diego State water polo team suffered an 8-6 upset on Sunday at the hands of No. 11 Loyola Marymount in the championship game of the UCSD Triton Invitational at Canyonview Aquatic Center. In semifinal action earlier in the day, the Aztecs (4-1) posted an 8-4 victory over ninth-ranked UC Davis, while the Lions (5-1) got by No. 7 UC Irvine, 8-7, in double overtime, setting up the title showdown.
LMU drew first blood against SDSU as Cara Colton converted a penalty shot to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. The Aztecs answered with three consecutive goals, two by Gonzales and another by sophomore Erinn Greenwood (Sanger, Calif.), which put the Scarlet and Black out in front, 3-1, at the 7:25 mark of the second period. LMU responded with a 3-0 run of its own over the next five minutes to regain a 4-3 advantage. As the half drew to a close, however, Greenwood, knotted the score at 4-4 with her second goal of the game on a penalty shot with 44 seconds remaining.
The third quarter proved to be SDSU's undoing as the Lions tallied three scores over a 2:42 stretch to take a commanding 7-4 lead. The Aztec offense was short-circuited throughout much of the period until Gonzales' third goal of the game cut the deficit to 7-5. LMU reclaimed a three-goal cushion in the fourth quarter on a score by Stacia Peterson with 5:19 left in the game. Forty seconds later following a Lion ejection, sophomore Jenna Schuster (Upland, Calif.) found the back of the net to pull SDSU to within 8-6. The Aztecs could not capitalize on the momentum, however, as the Lions were able to run out the remaining clock.
In its semifinal matchup with UC Davis, San Diego State jumped out to a 4-0 halftime advantage and never looked back. The Aztecs used a stifling defense to keep the Aggies off the scoreboard until two third-period goals sliced the lead in half to 4-2. SDSU countered the Davis uprising with two scores of its own as Greenwood and senior Stacy Werner (Lodi, Calif.) each found the back of the net to make the score 6-2.
Following two Aggie goals at the end of the third quarter, the Aztec defense once again clamped down, shutting out UC Davis the rest of the way. Gonzales and Werner each dented the scoreboard in the fourth quarter to provide the final outcome. Werner finished the game with four goals, her highest total since tallying five scores in a 10-9 overtime loss to UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 25, 2005. Junior Tiphanie Elliott (Porterville, Calif.) and freshman Danielle Pelke (Los Alamitos, Calif.) each contributed a goal as well for SDSU.
The Aztecs return to action this week when they begin conference play at No. 5 Hawai'i on Friday, Feb. 16. Opening sprint in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game is scheduled for 4 p.m. HST.
UCSD TRITON INVITATIONAL
Semifinals
No. 6 San Diego State 8, No. 9 UC Davis 4
UC Davis 0-0-4-0--4
SDSU 1-3-2-2--8
San Diego State goals: Werner 4, Elliott, Gonzales, Greenwood, Pelke
UC Davis goals: Lowe, Mota, O'Rourke, Soza
Finals
No. 11 Loyola Marymount 8, No. 6 San Diego State 6
SDSU 2-2-1-1--6
LMU 1-3-3-1--8
San Diego State goals: Gonzales 3, Greenwood 2, Schuster
Loyola Marymount goals: Colton 4, Peterson 2, Fish, Hughes,