March 22, 2014
ORANGE, Calif. - No. 20 San Diego State opened Chapman Mini Invitational action on Saturday with a 13-4 victory over Cal State East Bay. The win moves the Aztecs' record to 14-9 on the season.
Freshman Ioli Benekou scored the first two goals of the game and SDSU never looked back. CSUEB scored a goal with one minute left in the opening period to slash its deficit in half, but Taylor Gums added another goal for San Diego State in the final 40 seconds to lift the Aztecs to a 3-1 lead.
The Pioneers got to within one with an early score in the second quarter, but SDSU answered with goals from Claire McKinnon, Benekou and Nikole Ferrari, which gave the Scarlet and Black a 6-2 lead at the mid-way point.
The third quarter was more of the same as San Diego State outscored Cal State East Bay, 3-1, for the second straight frame. Benekou and Ferrari were at it again, scoring single goals before East Bay dented the scoreboard. Benekou then added one more goal to cap the period.
In the final eight minutes, SDSU received goals from Carina Carballo, McKinnon, Risa Burke and Lesley Kerley before the Pioneers tacked on a final goal with 1:12 left in regulation to provide the final margin.
Benekou finished with five goals, and Ferrari and McKinnon each scored twice. Gums, Carballo, Burke and Kerley, meanwhile, found the back of the net once.
The Aztecs return to the pool later today for two more games. SDSU will face Connecticut College at 2:30 p.m. PT and Chapman at 7 p.m. PT.
No. 20 San Diego State 13, Cal State East Bay 4
Allred Pool; Orange, Calif.
CSUEB 1-1-1-1--4
SDSU 3-3-3-4--13
CSUEB goals: Hudyn 2, Rushforth, Zell
SDSU goals: Benekou 5, Ferrari 2, McKinnon 2, Gums, Carballo, Burke, Kerley
CSUEB saves: unavailable
SDSU saves: unavailable