Feb. 10, 2013
SAN DIEGO - No. 7 San Diego State finished in fourth place at the UCSD Triton Invitational on Sunday. The Aztecs dropped a 12-3 decision to No. 2 USC before falling to No. 6 UC Irvine, 9-5, in the third-place game. With today's results, the Aztecs fall to 8-3 on the year.
SDSU fell behind just 27 seconds into the game and were playing catch-up the rest of the morning vs. the Women of Troy. USC was up, 3-0, before Amber Pezzolla netted the Aztecs' first goal with 2:38 left in the first quarter.
San Diego State stayed close with a quick score by Anique Hermann in the second quarter, but Southern California put up a five-spot to take an 8-2 lead at halftime.
USC continued its run with another pair of goals in the third period before Taelor Moreno put an end to the Women of Troy's 7-0 run to cut the Aztecs' deficit to 10-3. USC tacked on one more goal right before the quarter horn and carried an 11-3 lead into the final frame.
In the fourth, SDSU held Southern California scoreless for nearly the entire quarter, but the Women of Troy scored with seven seconds left to provide the final margin. Aztec goalkeeper Rachel Mitchell finished with a game-high 13 saves for an SDSU side that was held to its lowest offensive output of the season.
In the third-place game vs. the Anteaters, San Diego State got off to a good start as Emily Whalen gave the Aztecs a 1-0 lead. UCI answered with a goal of its own, but Pezzolla regained the lead for SDSU with a goal with 4:49 left in the quarter. UC Irvine, however, received three unanswered goals from Kelsey Klatt to end the period. Klatt scored all four goals for UCI as it took a 4-2 lead into the next stanza.
Whalen brought the Aztecs closer with her second of the game only 59 seconds in. The Anteaters countered with a pair of goals and kept SDSU off the scoreboard for the remainder of the half as they led at halftime, 6-3.
Both teams failed to score until the final minute of the third quarter. UC Irvine rattled the cage with a goal with 16 seconds left and the Aztecs' Hermann followed suit with one second showing on the game clock to bring SDSU to within three with eight minutes to play.
San Diego State made the score 7-5 when Whalen completed her hat trick, but that would be the final time the Aztecs would score the rest of the game. The Anteaters, meanwhile, tacked on two more goals to capture third place and the 9-5 victory.
Mitchell finished with 14 saves for San Diego State, which will return to action on Feb. 23 at the UC Irvine Invitational.
No. 2 USC 12, No. 7 San Diego State 3
Triton Pool - San Diego, Calif.
SDSU 1-1-1-0--3
USC 3-5-3-1--12
SDSU goals: Anique Hermann 1, Taelor Moreno 1, Amber Pezzolla 1
USC goals: Eike Daube 2, Kaleigh Gilchrist 2, Dominique Sardo 2, Monica Vavic 2, Jayde Appel 1, Hannah Buckling 1, Colleen O'Donnell 1, Courtney Walters 1
SDSU saves: Rachel Mitchell - 13
USC saves: Flora Bolonyai - 8
No. 6 UC Irvine 9, No. 7 San Diego State 5
Triton Pool - San Diego, Calif.
UCI 4-2-1-2--9
SDSU 2-1-1-1--5
UCI goals: Kelsey Klatt 4, Cambria Shockley 2, Emily Carlson 1, Hillary Estrada 1, McKenna Mitchell 1
SDSU goals: Emily Whalen 3, Anique Hermann 1, Amber Pezzolla 1
UCI saves: Julian Yocum - unavailable
SDSU saves: Rachel Mitchell - 14