April 24, 2009
HONOLULU, HI - The seventh-seeded San Diego State water polo team dropped its opening match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Water Polo Championship to No. 2 seeded Stanford, 13-6, at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex in Honolulu, HI. With the win, Stanford will face the winner of the No. 3 UCLA/No. 6 Hawai`i match on Saturday in the semifinals of the championship at 7:30 p.m. San Diego State will face the loser of the UCLA/Hawai`i match at 7:30 p.m. (PT) on Saturday.
Senior co-captain Jenna Schuster led the Scarlet and Black with a hat trick, while classmate Anna Gonzales and freshmen Leanne Ford and Kimmy Keach each tallied one score. Freshman Kelly Campoli notched six saves in the loss.
The Cardinal shut out San Diego State in the first quarter and took an early 5-0 lead on two goals by Alyssa Lo and one goal each by Lauren Silver, Alex Koran and Kelly Eaton.
After Koran scored her second goal to put Stanford in front 6-0, San Diego State finally got on the board when Schuster scored the Aztecs' first goal of the match at the 4:39 mark. Keach scored her 15th goal of the season and notched San Diego State's second goal to cut the lead to 6-2 with 26 seconds remaining in the first half.
Stanford continued firing after intermission. Koran led the Cardinal attack with back-to-back goals to take an 8-2 lead. Schuster answered with her second goal of the match for San Diego State in the middle of the quarter, closing the deficit to six heading into the final stanza.
Although the Cardinal enjoyed an impressive lead to start the fourth quarter, the Aztecs proved to be fighters. Competing until the final buzzer, SDSU scored three unanswered goals in the final three minutes of the game, with Schuster notching her third tally of the game to start the rally. Ford would find the back of the net for her ninth goal of the season with just over two minutes remaining and Gonzales would connect with 33 seconds to play in the final stanza.
Stanford improves to 23-3 on the season, while SDSU falls to 22-10. The Aztecs will return to the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex on Saturday to take on the loser of the UCLA/Hawai`i match. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. PT.
(2) Stanford 13, (7) San Diego State 6
Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex - Honolulu, HI
April 24, 2009
San Diego State 0 2 1 3 - 6
Stanford 5 1 3 4 - 13
SDSU Goals - Schuster 3, Ford, Gonzales, Keach.
Stanford Goals -Koran 4, Lo 2, Menon 2, Silver 2, Eaton, Krueger, Seidemann.
SDSU Goal Saves -Campoli 6.
Stanford Goal Saves - Oland 7, Hall 5.