April 18, 2014
SAN DIEGO - No. T-19 San Diego State dropped an 8-5 decision at No. 14 UC San Diego Friday night at Canyonview Pool. The loss is the first in the 13-year history of the Harper Cup for SDSU, which had its six-game winning streak snapped and fell to 22-11 overall. The Tritons, meanwhile, upped their record to 24-10 and snapped a 21-game overall losing streak to the Aztecs.
For the first time ever, the Harper Cup will reside in La Jolla for the next year until the schools get together again in 2015. The Harper Cup is named for UC San Diego men's water polo coach Denny Harper, who played at San Diego State as an undergraduate and established the SDSU women's water polo club team.
San Diego State trailed, 2-0, after one quarter and was forced to play catch-up the rest of the way. By the time Ioli Benekou scored the first goal for SDSU, it trailed 5-0. At halftime, the Aztecs were behind, 6-2.
Each team scored one goal apiece in the third frame, but SDSU was still facing a 7-3 deficit. In the fourth period, however, the Aztecs outscored the Tritons, 2-1, but their rally fell short as they eventually suffered the three-goal defeat.
Golden Coast co-player of the week Caroline Israels led San Diego State with two goals. Benekou, Nikole Ferrari and Alyssa Diacono, meanwhile, scored once. Goalkeeper Rachel Mitchell recorded a game-high 16 saves.
The Aztecs return to action on Friday, April 25, when they compete at the Golden Coast Conference Championship. San Diego State is the top-seeded team in the tournament and received an automatic bye into the semifinals as a result of winning the regular-season title. SDSU will face the winner of fourth-seeded Cal Baptist and fifth-seeded Pacific at 2:30 p.m. PT at LMU.
No. 14 UC San Diego 8, No. T-19 San Diego State 5
Canyonview Pool; San Diego, Calif.
SDSU 0-2-1-2--5 UCSD 2-4-1-1--8
SDSU goals: Israels 2, Benekou, Ferrari, Diacono UCSD goals: Wieseler 2, Kirkland 2, Gonzales 2, Guiliana 2
SDSU saves: Mitchell 16 UCSD saves: Miller 13