April 27, 2008
SAN DIEGO - Sophomore Ronni Gautschi scored one of her game-high four goals in the first overtime period to lift fourth-seeded San Diego State to a 12-11 victory over No. 7 seed California at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Scarlet and Black captured fifth place at the conference tournament for the second consecutive year.
In addition to Gautschi's top performance, Anna Gonzales notched a hat trick, while Danielle Pelke added a pair of goals. Tiphanie Elliott, Jenna Schuster and Becca Ur rounded out the Aztec scorers. Senior goalkeeper Heather Fenske had a phenomenal game in the cage, turning away 13 shots.
Cal came out firing as it took an early 3-0 lead with 2:02 left in the first period. Gautschi then jump-started the Aztec offense just 30 seconds later as she converted on a 6-on-5 situation. Gonzales' penalty shot with three seconds to go in the quarter cut SDSU's deficit to one (3-2). From that point on, the two teams were neck-in-neck with eight tie scores before the end of the game.
In the second quarter, Pelke scored from the perimeter as time ran out on a Cal ejection before converting a penalty shot at the 6:47 mark to give the Aztecs their first lead of the game. The Bears quickly knotted the score on their next possession as Molly Hayes slipped a shot past Fenske and were back on top (5-4) after Julie Oreglia found the back of the net. Schuster was able to score on a power play with 4:32 on the clock, but Cal eventually took a slim 6-5 lead into the half.
The two teams went back and forth in the third frame as the score was locked at 9-9 heading into the final stanza. In the fourth period, Gautschi scored twice putting the Aztecs up by one with each score, but the Bears would not let up notching the final goal of regulation to send the game into overtime.
With two of SDSU's leading scorers (Gonzales and Erinn Greenwood) fouled out, the Aztecs once again turned to Gautschi who put the game-winning goal away with 1:06 left to play in the first extra period. The Aztec defense stepped up from there as a steal by Pelke with 14 seconds left sealed the win for the Scarlet and Black.
SDSU improves to 29-6 on the year, tying a program-best for wins in a season, while the Golden Bears drop to 18-11.
MPSF Championships: Fifth-place game
(4) San Diego State 12, (7) California 11
Aztec Aquaplex - San Diego, Calif.
April 27, 2008
CAL 3-3-3-2-0-0 -- 11SDSU 2-3-4-2-0-1 -- 12
CAL goals: Lorenz 3, Reynolds 2, Champion, Oreglia, Hayes, Schnugg, Anderson, HewkoSDSU goals: Gautschi 4, Gonzales 3, Pelke 2, Schuster, Ur, Elliott
CAL goalie saves: Stuart 11SDSU goalie saves: Fenske 13