April 22, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State-UC San Diego Final Box
No. 15 San Diego State fell in a heartbreaking fashion, losing to 11th-ranked UC San Diego, 6-5, in the second sudden-death overtime period Friday night at Canyonview Pool on the campus of UCSD. With the loss, the Aztecs handed the Tritons the Harper Cup and put them at 15-16 on the season heading into next week's Golden Coast Championship.
The teams finished regulation tied at 5-5 and both went scoreless in the first half of the first overtime before switching ends. The second half of the first OT, UC San Diego moved ahead, 5-4, thanks to a goal from Emma Sasson. Then as the frame was coming to a close with SDSU needing a goal to force sudden death, Tayla Walsh scored with 25 seconds left off a feed from Nikole Ferrari.
Neither team scored in the time allotted for sudden death, so the game moved to yet another winner-take-all period. Unfortunately for San Diego State, UCSD's Lauren Boyer netted the game-winner to put an end to an instant classic between the two schools.
The game started with both teams struggling to find the back of the net. UC San Diego, however, struck first when Alexis Wieseler recorded a goal with 1:29 left in the first. Hannah Carrillo answered for the visiting Aztecs off a Courtney Jarvis pass with 57 seconds remaining to level the score.
SDSU carried a 3-2 lead into overtime after it received a Caroline Israels goal less than two minutes into the second quarter. The Tritons tied the game with a Chanel Schilling strike, which was the first of four combined consecutive power-play goals to open the game. Walsh posted the first even-strength goal with 61 seconds left before halftime to propel the Aztecs to the aforementioned 3-2 lead.
The Tritons regained the lead after goals from Julia Kirkland and Laurel Kistler. Trailing 4-3 entering the final minute of the third period, Ferrari knotted the score at 4-apiece when she took an Ioli Benekou pass on a power-play opportunity and fired it by UCSD goalkeeper Courtney Miller.
The scored remained tied at 4-4 for the entire fourth quarter, which set up all of the overtime periods and ended in UC San Diego hoisting the Harper Cup for the second time in the 15-year history of the game.
The Aztecs return to action on Saturday, April 30, when they play in the semifinals of the GCC Championship at 3 p.m. PT at Aztec Aquaplex.
No. 11 UC San Diego 6, No. 15 San Diego State 5 (3OT)
Canyonview Pool; San Diego, Calif.
SDSU 1-2-1-0-0-1---0----0-----5
UCSD 1-1-2-0-0-1---0----1-----6
SDSU goals: Walsh 2, Carrillo, Ferrari, Israels
UCSD goals: Boyer, Kirkland, Kistler, Sasson, Schilling, Wieseler
SDSU saves: Mitchell 12
UCSD saves: Miller 13