April 23, 2010
SAN DIEGO - The 13th-ranked San Diego State water polo team claimed the Harper Cup for the ninth time in as many tries Friday night with its 11-3 victory over UC San Diego at Canyonview Pool on the campus of UCSD. With their 15th straight win over the Tritons, the Aztecs improve to 20-13 and record their school-record fifth consecutive 20-win campaign.
The Aztecs started fast by scoring three goals to open the quarter and their defense was up for the task on the other side of the pool. The game was scoreless for nearly the first four minutes, but Amber Pezzolla drew a penalty, which led to Leanne Ford's successful penalty shot that rattled the upper left corner. Sarah Brady logged the second SDSU goal with 2:27 left in the period and Leanne Ford followed suit 50 seconds later as her shot hit the crossbar, went off Triton goalkeeper Markayla Quane's head and into the cage.
The second quarter was much like the first with San Diego State's defense doing a fantastic job and the offense doing its part. The Aztecs took a 4-0 lead when Meaghan Poland scored from two meters out and UCSD responded not a minute later after Audra Bloom's attempt slipped through Kelly Campoli's hands and into the net. The goal, however, would not slow SDSU as Lindsey Morris scored for the second straight game on a skip shot with less than three minutes to play, and Poland netted her second goal of the game 60 seconds later to give the visitors a 6-1 lead at halftime.
San Diego State continued to dominate its regular-season finale by scoring four times and holding UC San Diego off the scoreboard. Poland scored her third goal of the game 1:05 into the period and was followed in succession by Brady, Leanne Ford, who netted her second penalty-shot goal, and Ashley de Goede as the Aztecs opened up a 10-1 lead and took its six-goal lead into the fourth.
In the final eight minutes, UCSD ended its scoring drought when Jessica Tran found the back of the net, but Pezzolla answered with her first goal of the game two possessions later. The Tritons cut their deficit to eight when Bloom logged her second goal of the evening, but that would be as close as the Aztecs would allow the home team to get as they would go on to post the eight-goal victory, their largest margin of victory in the history of the Harper Cup. In fact, SDSU has won the last two Harper Cup games by a total of 15 goals, the largest two-game margin of victory in the nine years of the game.
The aforementioned stellar Aztec defense, led by Campoli, shut down UC San Diego's 6-on-5 attack. SDSU held the Tritons to 0-for-10 on power-play chances, including 0-for-3 on 6-on-4 attempts. Campoli, meanwhile, finished with a season-high 16 saves.
At the conclusion of the game, Poland was named most valuable player.
The Harper Cup is named after former San Diego State Aztec and former UCSD water polo head coach Denny Harper. The SDSU graduate established the Aztec women's water polo club team and helped the Triton women to five collegiate national championships from 1985-1999.
San Diego State is back in action Friday, April 30, when it plays in the first round of the MPSF Championships at UCLA. Opponent and game time have yet to be determined.
No. 13 San Diego State 11, No. 18 UC San Diego 3
Canyonview Pool (San Diego, Calif.)
SDSU 3-3-4-1--11
UCSD 0-1-0-2--3
SDSU goals: Leanne Ford 3, Meaghan Poland 3, Sarah Brady 2, Lindsey Morris, Ashley de Goede, Amber Pezzolla
UCSD goals: Audra Bloom 2, Jessica Tran
SDSU saves: Kelly Campoli 16
UCSD saves: Markayla Quane