April 30, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
Top-seeded San Diego State used a smothering defense to dismiss fourth-seeded LMU, 9-4, on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Golden Coast Conference Championship at Aztec Aquaplex. With the title-game-securing victory, the Aztecs improved to 16-16 on the season.
The scoring started quickly as Makena Magro slotted her shot into the upper left corner just 34 seconds into the game as the shot clock was winding down off a feed from Ioli Benekou. The offense, however, was a mirage as it came to a halt as the defense took center stage. Highlighting the Aztec defensive performance was goalkeeper Rachel Mitchell, who made a handful of impressive stops to keep the Lions off the scoreboard. The all-GCC first-team senior finished with a game-high 14 stops.
San Diego State doubled its lead 16 seconds into the second quarter when Hannah Carrillo scored early in a 6-on-5 situation. LMU answered with 5:19 left when Emily Byrne and Mitchell were competing for a 50-50 ball, one in which Byrne won and struggled to get a shot off. The attempt, however, trickled across the goal line for the Lions first goal.
The final five minutes of the half saw both teams score two goals apiece. After LMU scored, Nikole Ferrari fired a shot just inside the near post off a feed from Courtney Jarvis, but the visitors responded with a goal from Kiana Etrata. Later with a shade over two minutes to go, Benekou deked Lions goalkeeper Sky Flores with her eyes and fired the other way into the near-post side for SDSU's fourth goal of the afternoon. Byrne found the back of the net with 28 seconds left as both teams went into halftime with the Aztecs up, 4-3.
The third quarter was much like the first with goals coming at a premium. Alyssa Diacono punched in her first goal of the day before the clock read 7:00 to give SDSU a two-goal cushion. The defense, which was strong all day, was stellar as both teams appeared poised to go into the fourth period with score locked in at 5-3. Tayla Walsh, however, had other ideas as she dialed up a shot from long distance and successfully scored on Flores with 51 seconds left.
LMU made it a 6-4 game when Ivana Castro scored from deep with over six minutes remaining in regulation. The Aztecs had an immediate answer on the next possession with Diacono getting the question right from two meters. From there, the SDSU defense continued its dominant showing while getting two skip-shot goals 34 seconds apart from Caroline Israaels and Ferrari to provide the final margin.
The Aztecs advance to the GCC championship game for the third consecutive season on Sunday vs. second-seeded Pacific, which was a 12-8 winner over third-seeded California Baptist earlier in the day. First sprint for the title game is set for 2:30 p.m. PT at Aztec Aquaplex. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students with a valid ID/youth at the Tony Gwynn Stadium box office.
[1] No. 15 San Diego State 9, [4] No. 22 LMU 4 ââ'¬" GCC Semifinal
Aztec Aquaplex; San Diego, Calif.
LMU 0-3-0-1-4
SDSU 1-3-2-3-9
LMU goals: Byrne 2, Etrata
SDSU goals: Diacono 2, Ferrari 2, Benekou, Carrillo, Israels, Magro, Walsh
LMU saves: Flores 10
SDSU saves: Mitchell 14