Feb. 28, 2009
SAN DIEGO - The No. 5 San Diego State water polo team dropped a 13-14 overtime decision to the 10th-ranked Anteaters on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Scarlet and Black drop to 9-3 on the season, while UC Irvine improves to 9-4.
Junior Ronni Gautschi led the Aztec attack with four goals, while senior Anna Gonzales notched three tallies. Senior Jenna Schuster and sophomore Sarah Brady each added two scores apiece. Senior Erinn Greenwood and sophomore Brooke Vessey rounded out the SDSU scoring with one goal each. Freshman Kelly Campoli recorded 10 saves in front of the cage.
UC Irvine got on the board first with when Julia Francher scored on a lob shot that just got over Campoli. Aztecs answered when Gautschi was able to skip one under goalie Morgan Vickers' arms to tie the game in the first quarter. The Anteaters took the lead at the 2:49 mark with a score by Ashling Taylor, but San Diego State would respond with two goals from Gautschi, who completed the hat trick in the first frame with her score with 33 seconds left in the opening quarter. A Schuster steal set up Brady for a one-on-one opportunity that she put away. The Aztecs led 4-2 at the end of the first stanza.
UC Irvine wasted no time cutting the deficit in the second quarter as Caitlin Haskell found the back of the net at the 5:48 mark. Gonzales notched her first score of the day to put the Aztecs back up by two. UCI's Haskell brought the Anteaters back within one on a cross-cage lob shot and Courtney Collyer would score the equalizer less than a minute later to tie the game at 5-5. The Aztecs and UC Irvine traded goals late in the quarter, with Brady connecting on a power-play opportunity and Collyer scoring her second goal of the day with nine seconds before halftime to tie the game at 6-6 going into intermission.
The Scarlet and Black came out strong after the break and took the lead with scores from both Gautschi and Gonzales. The Anteaters' Gianna Rossi connected on a backhand shot to close the gap, 8-7. Both teams were both stalemate on offense for the rest of the third quarter.
Rossi would put UCI in the lead for the first time since the first quarter when she converted a power-play at the 6:50 mark and then found the back of the net with 3:45 left in the final frame. Both teams would continue to fight and the Aztecs looked like they were set to make a quick comeback with Vessey drawing an ejection that set up a 6-on-5 chance for SDSU. Schuster would convert the power play off of a Gautschi pass to tie the game a 9-9. Gonzales would give the Scarlet and Black the lead when she struck from outside for her second tally of the day, but the Anteaters would not go silently and tied the score with a Kat Plummer goal in the final minute to send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime period, SDSU and UCI traded goals back-to-back. The Aztecs struck first with Greenwood connecting from outside, but Ashling Taylor would answer with a backhand score. Gonzales would score for San Diego State on a power-play set up by Greenwood's drawn ejection, but UC Irvine's Haskell answered 20 seconds later to even the score at 12-12. The Scarlet and Black looked poised to take the lead in the final seconds, but Schuster's one-on-one opportunity failed to develop as the horn blew the end of the first overtime frame.
The second overtime would allow the Anteaters the final minutes needed to win the game. Rossi found the back of the net with just over a minute left to play to give UC Irvine the one-goal advantage. SDSU evened the score one more time off of an impressive goal by Vessey, but UCI would find Collyer with the game winner at the 0:31 mark.
San Diego State will return to the pool tomorrow afternoon as they play host to the 16th-ranked Long Beach 49ers. Game time is set for noon PT on Sunday, March 1, at the Aztec Aquaplex.
No. 5 San Diego State 13, No. 10 UC Irvine 14 (OT)
Aztec Aquaplex
Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009
UCI 2-4-1-3-2-2 - 14
SDSU 4-2-2-2-2-1 - 13
SDSU goals: Gautschi 4, Gonzales 3, Brady 2, Schuster 2, Greenwood, Vessey.
UCI goals: Collyer 3, Haskell 3, Rossi 3, Taylor 2, Francher, Plummer.
SDSU goal saves: Campoli 10.