April 6, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Water Polo Weekly Release
Game Week Preview
No. 18 San Diego State (11-13; 3-0 GCC) at Santa Clara (8-11; 1-1 GCC)
Friday, April 8 | Sullivan Aquatic Center | Santa Clara, Calif. | 4 p.m. PT
No. 18 San Diego State (11-13; 3-0 GCC) at No. 12 Pacific (10-14; 2-0 GCC)
Saturday, April 9 | Chris Kjledsen Pool | PacificTigers.com | Stockton, Calif. | 1 p.m. PT
No. 18 San Diego State (11-13; 3-0 GCC) at No. 3 Stanford (17-2; 3-0 MPSF)
Sunday, April 10 | Avery Aquatic Center | Pac-12 Bay Area | Stanford, Calif. | 1 p.m. PT
Storylines
- No. 18 San Diego State, which went 3-1 last week, will be busy once again this week when it plays three games in three different cities on three consecutive days. The Aztecs will look to tighten their grip on first place in the Golden Coast when they face Santa Clara on Friday and No. 12 Pacific on Saturday (stream on PacificTigers.com). SDSU will then finish its Bay Area trip with a Sunday afternoon non-league contest at third-ranked Stanford on Pac-12 Bay Area.
- The Aztecs will hit the road playing, what is perhaps, their best water polo of the season. San Diego State is 4-2 in its last six games, which is its best stretch of the year. During its six-game run, SDSU is scoring an average of 9.5 goals, while allowing 7.5. Of their last six foes, five were held to single digits.
- SDSU is looking to secure its third straight Golden Coast Conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed at the GCC Championship, which will be held at Aztec Aquaplex at the end of the month, and this week's games will be pivotal. The Aztecs sit atop the league standings at 3-0, a half-game ahead of Pacific, which is 2-0. California Baptist is in third place with a 3-1 record and is followed by LMU (2-2), Santa Clara (1-1), Azusa Pacific (1-2), Fresno Pacific (1-3) and Concordia (0-4).
- San Diego State's win at Long Beach State gave the Aztecs a season sweep over the 49ers. SDSU defeated LBSU, 8-7, at the Triton Invitational before upsetting the 16th-ranked 49ers by an identical 8-7 score. The victory was San Diego State's first this year over an opponent ranked higher than itself.
- SDSU's win over Brown in Long Beach was its fourth in as many seasons. In an odd twist, the Aztecs allowed five Bear goals for the fourth straight season. The last four meetings with Brown: 11-5 (2013), 10-5 (2014), 11-5 (2015), 15-5 (2016).
- In San Diego State's third Golden Coast win in as many tries, this time against Fresno Pacific, the Aztecs continued its dominance over the Sunbirds. SDSU posted a double-digit win vs. FPU for the third straight season. In the previous two meetings with Fresno Pacific, the Aztecs won by 19 (2014) and 13 (2015) before posting the 17-4 decision last Saturday.
- The Aztecs will face a Santa Clara program they have had the upper hand on in recent seasons, posting a 5-1 record since the start of the 2006 campaign. Since the programs have been a part of the Golden Coast Conference, SDSU has gone 2-0 in conference games, but 2-1 in all games. The lone blemish was a 9-8 overtime loss at the 2014 UCSD Invitational. Last year, San Diego State defeated the Broncos, 15-9, at Aztec Aquaplex.
- San Diego State is set for its trip to Stockton to face a Pacific team it has never lost to in 29 all-time meetings. The last two get-togethers have produced 9-6 scores, once during the 2015 regular season and the other occurring in the 2014 GCC Championship in Los Angeles. In 2014, the teams met twice during the regular season, which produced a 9-7 San Diego State victory at the UCI Invitational and a 7-6 Aztec triumph at Pacific.
- Stanford will be a tall task for the Aztecs. San Diego State owned the series early by winning the first seven games, but will head to Avery Aquatic Center trailing the all-time series, 9-30. Last season, the schools met in the middle of Califorinia, for all intents and purposes, and played at the FPU Mini where the Cardinal emerged with an 18-6 victory.
Opponent Notebook
Santa Clara - The Broncos are 4-3 in their last seven games with their last two coming against Golden Coast foes... In its two conference games, SCU won at Azusa Pacific before falling at Loyola Marymount... Santa Clara's final seven games will be against GCC foes... SCU is 2-0 in home games and the date vs. SDSU will be its first on campus since March 12.
Pacific - The Tigers are 4-2 in their last six games and have won two straight games, both of which were league games... Pacific opened Golden Coast action with a 9-8 win at Loyola Marymount and a 10-9 victory at California Baptist, both of which were last week... UOP has not played a home game to date, but that changes when it plays host to Fresno Pacific on Friday.
Stanford - The Cardinal come into the weekend riding a six-game winning streak... Stanford has lost only twice, once to No. 5 California at home back on Feb. 7, and once to No. 1 USC in Irvine on Feb. 28... The Cardinal is 4-1 at home this season and is averaging 13.5 goals in its four wins... In all home games, Stanford is outscoring its foes, 56-31.