April 11, 2015
SAN DIEGO - No. 18 San Diego State defeated Santa Clara, 15-9, Saturday afternoon at Aztec Aquaplex to capture the outright Golden Coast Conference regular-season title. SDSU (15-14) successfully defended its league crown by posting its second straight 6-0 conference campaign and will be the No. 1 seed at the GCC Championship in two weeks.
Anique Hermann helped the Aztecs make a statement early as she scored the game's first goal a minute after the opening sprint. Then on San Diego State's next possession she fed Alyssa Diacono, who touched it past Broncos goalkeeper Sydni Estrella. SCU's Julia Peters cut the Broncos' deficit in half over a minute later only to have SDSU answer with goals from Ioli Benekou and Diacono to take the Aztecs into the second quarter up, 4-1.
San Diego State's final two first-quarter goals were the catalyst for what ended up being a 5-0 Aztec run. Benekou continued the offensive push with a penalty shot, which was originally drawn by Caroline Israels, and was followed by a pair of Taylor Gums strikes, one that was squeezed into the lower right corner and the other coming off a backhand. Santa Clara (13-12; 1-3 GCC) ended the spurt with single tallies from Keri Clifford and Kathryn Burke to help it get to within four goals at 7-3, but Diacono powered through three Broncos at set to post her third goal of the day and SDSU went into halftime ahead, 8-3.
The offensive showing continued into the third quarter and took all of 20 seconds. San Diego State was whistled for a penalty and SCU's Elle Surber converted the chance. Israels, the Aztecs' leading scorer who was blanked in the opening 16 minutes, erased the 0 in the goals-scored column by putting her attempt into the left side of the cage. Carina Carballo followed suit 34 seconds later on a power-play opportunity to propel SDSU to a 10-4 advantage. In the final 3:19 of the frame, the teams traded goals with Santa Clara's Ashleigh Bandimere scoring first. The final three goals came from, in order, Gums off an assist from Benekou, Surber with three seconds left, and Israels from beyond mid-pool as time expired.
The Israels Show spilled over into the fourth quarter as the sophomore scored all three of the Aztecs' goals. Her first came on a fastbreak where she found herself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. She later answered a Peters goal by slotting her shot into the upper right corner. With San Diego State ahead, 14-7, the Broncos put a pair of lob shots (Bandimere, Surber) past Rachel Mitchell to get within five and Israels added one more goal for good measure to provide the final margin.
Mitchell, who shut the gate on the Broncos on a handful of attempts in the second half, finished with six stops. Israels' five goals tied a season-best for an Aztec (Benekou vs. UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 14) and the Pompano Beach, Florida native has now scored in eight straight games (21 goals).
Diacono continued her outstanding play by recording her second hat trick in as many days. For the season, the sophomore has four hat tricks. Gums, meanwhile, posted her second hat trick of 2015 and her first since the conference win at California Baptist (March 7).
With SDSU's second GCC regular-season title in a row, it gives the Aztecs' athletics department five team championships this academic year, joining women's soccer (Mountain West regular season, tournament), women's swimming and diving (MW) and men's basketball (MW regular season). And since the start of the 2012-13 season, San Diego State has won 24 conference team championships.
The back-to-back Golden Coast regular-season champions will return to action on Saturday, April 18, when it plays host to UC San Diego at noon PT in the 14th annual Harper Cup game. The Aztecs will look to recapture the Cup on Senior Day after surrendering it last season for the first time in the history of the game. Admission at Aztec Aquaplex is free.
No. 18 San Diego State 15, Santa Clara 9
Aztec Aquaplex; San Diego, Calif.
SCU 1-2-3-3--9
SDSU 4-4-4-3--15
SCU goals: Surber 3, Bandimere 2, Peters 2, Burke, Clifford
SDSU goals: Israels 5, Diacono 3, Gums 3, Benekou 2, Carballo, Hermann
SCU saves: Estrella 8
SDSU saves: Mitchell 6