Feb. 23, 2014
CORONA DEL MAR, Calif. - No. 18 San Diego State recorded a pair of wins on the final day of the UCI Invitational at Corona del Mar High School. The Aztecs beat Pacific, 9-7, before earning an 11-10 victory over No. 14 UC Davis in the 13th-place game. With the two victories, the Scarlet and Black improves to 7-5 on the season.
In its first game of the day, SDSU trailed early, falling behind 2-0 after one quarter. The Aztecs, however, managed to claw back in the second period, scoring twice, but still faced a 5-2 deficit at halftime.
As the contest moved to the third quarter, San Diego State started to hit its stride offensively, putting up three goals. Defensively, the Aztecs were stellar, keeping Pacific off the scoreboard to help SDSU level the score at five apiece.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Scarlet and Black imposed its will, outscoring the Tigers, 4-2, to complete the comeback and record the two-goal victory.
Freshman Caroline Israels led all players with three goals and sophomore Nikole Ferrari added two of her own. Another freshman, Alyssa Diacono, also scored twice, while junior Anique Hermann and freshman Makena Magro each tallied one goal. Rachel Mitchell made 11 stops in net for SDSU.
In the 13th-place contest, UC Davis jumped out to a 3-2 lead after one quarter and led, 5-4, at halftime. Much like the third quarter of the Pacific game, the Aztecs put themselves in a position to win, this time tickling the twine four times, while limited the Aggies to just two goals.
Carrying an 8-7 lead into the fourth period, SDSU scored three times, as did UC Davis, and when the final horn sounded, the Aztecs found themselves ahead, 11-10, to post the victory.
Hermann scored four times to lead all players and freshman Ioli Benekou posted a hat trick to make up more than half of SDSU's offense. Diacono, Taylor Gums, Israels and Ferrari added one goal apiece to round out the scoring.
San Diego State returns to action on Saturday, March 1, when it plays host to Cal Baptist in its inaugural Golden Coast Conference game. First sprint is slated for 11:30 a.m. PT.
No. 18 San Diego State 9, Pacific 7
Corona del Mar High School; Corona del Mar, Calif.
UOP 2-3-0-2--7
SDSU 0-2-3-4--9
UOP goals: Pye 2, Adair 2, Wright, Martin, Weir
SDSU goals: Israels 3, Ferrari 2, Diacono 2, Hermann, Magro
UOP saves: Nee 9
SDSU saves: Mitchell 11
No. 18 San Diego State 11, No. 14 UC Davis 10 (13th-place game)
Corona del Mar High School; Corona del Mar, Calif.
UCD 3-2-2-3--10
SDSU 2-2-4-3--11
UCD goals: Hansen 3, Husted 2, Arcidiacono, Houston, Tocchini, Curran, Fullerton
SDSU goals: Hermann 4, Benkou 3, Diacono, Gums, Israels, Ferrari
UCD saves: unavailable
SDSU saves: unavailable