Feb. 16, 2012
SAN DIEGO - In a battle between two top-10 programs, ninth-ranked San Diego State will play host to No. 3 UCLA on Saturday at Aztec Aquaplex. The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener is set to start at noon PT.
SDSU, which comes into the game with an 8-1 record, is off to its best nine-game start since 2008 when that squad was undefeated after nine outings.
The Aztecs are coming off a 4-1 week where they defeated No. 15 Hartwick, Sonoma State and No. 19 Cal State Northridge before falling to No. 6 UC Irvine. The latter three matches were at the Triton Invitational at nearby UC San Diego. The setback to the Anteaters was San Diego State's first of the year, but it rebounded nicely in the third-place game where it beat No. 12 Loyola Marymount.
Amber Pezzolla led the Aztecs in scoring in all five games and finished with 17 goals for the week. The junior scored four apiece vs. Hartwick and Somona State, and followed it with three straight hat tricks vs. Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount. For her effort, Pezzolla was named a Primetime Performer by CollegeSports360.com.
Last week, San Diego State was in a ninth-place tie in the national top-20 rankings. This week, however, the Aztecs broke the tie and is ranked alone in ninth.
On Saturday, SDSU is looking to win its MPSF opener for the first time since 2004 and is in search of its first victory over UCLA since 2010. The Aztecs defeated the Bruins in the second game of the season at the Michigan Invitational in overtime, 7-6. Since that decision, San Diego State is winless in three tries against UCLA. Two of the three meetings, however, were decided by a combined three goals.
The Bruins come into the game with a 7-1 record after downing Cal Baptist, 11-5, last Saturday. UCLA opened the season with six consecutive victories before falling at Stanford, 9-5, at the Stanford Invitational.
After the conference opener, San Diego State will compete at the UCI Invitational, Feb. 25-26.