May 14, 2016
LOS ANGELES -
San Diego State-Arizona State Final Box 
San Diego State's attempt to rally from a three-goal halftime deficit came up short as it fell to Arizona State, 7-5, in an NCAA Championship consolation game on Saturday afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Center on the campus of UCLA.
SDSU (18-18) got to within one goal of the Sun Devils (20-8) on three different occasions, but could not find the equalizer. The game was tied at 1-1 after one quarter and ASU led, 4-1, at halftime following a scoreless period by the Aztecs.
Despite the three-goal hole, San Diego State showed its resiliency almost immediately after the mid-game break. The Aztecs opened the third quarter by winning the sprint, but did not find the back of the net for their first few possessions. Makena Magro, however, changed the narrative with a strike off a pass from Ioli Benekou to make it 4-2 with 5:20 left in the frame.
The Magro goal added fuel to an already inspired defensive effort by San Diego State, which continued to pitch a shutout in the third as the game moved to the four-minute mark. It was at this point, ASU's Daisy Carter looked positioned to score as she found herself on a breakaway with a pair of Aztecs trailing. Carter, however, had her shot stonewalled by Rachel Mitchell to keep SDSU's deficit at two.
The two-goal deficit was soon trimmed in half when Nikole Ferrari fed Hannah Carrillo as the clock neared two minutes. The freshman from San Diego up-faked with her shot and put her attempt into the nearside of the cage past Arizona State goalkeeper Mia Rycraw. The deficit was short-lived as it was soon doubled less than a minute later when Ao Gao scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity, which was ASU's third of the day with a player advantage.
As the game moved into the final minute, Mikayla Vessey lobbed a cross-pool pass to Ferrari, who tucked in her shot to bring the Aztecs to within one goal again at 5-4 with 42 seconds left on the game clock. The Sun Devils' Maud Koopman, however, added her only goal of the game, which was a momentum-killer for SDSU, to give ASU a 6-4 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Much like the third quarter, San Diego State kept coming back. This time it was Caroline Israels who provided the scoring. The junior's second of the day was an impressive skip shot from eight meters away, which caused the scoreboard to show: Arizona State 6, San Diego State 5 (6:45).
Each school thwarted each other's offensive possessions for the next four-plus minutes, but it was Arizona State's Kayla Casas' off-seed dart into the upper left corner that ultimately proved to be too much for SDSU to overcome.
But even facing a 7-5 uphill climb with 2:32 to go, San Diego State did not go quietly and made things interesting down the stretch. Alyssa Diacono drew a five-meter penalty with just over a minute to play, but Israels' penalty shot was just off the mark and banged off the right post. Despite the misfortune, the Aztecs still had one last chance as the Sun Devils were called for a delay-of-game exclusion, giving SDSU the ball, but Diacono's attempt was stopped and ASU ran out the clock.
Arizona State built what was an insurmountable lead thanks to a first-quarter goal from Katie Sverchek and second-quarter goals from Carter (2) and Casas. Israels tallied the Aztecs' only goal in the first quarter with 2:54 left.
Mitchell had seven saves in another strong outing where she held Arizona State to its second-fewest goals since the calendar turned from March to April. Mitchell's counterpart, Rycraw, had 15 stops.
The Aztecs will now face UC Santa Barbara on Sunday at noon at Spieker Aquatics Center. The NCAA seventh-place game will be streamed live at NCAA.com. The webstream link along with the live stats link will be available at GoAztecs.com.
No. 6 Arizona State 7, T-No. 13 San Diego State 5 -- NCAA Consolation
Spieker Aquatics Center; Los Angeles, Calif.
SDSU 1-0-3-1--5
ASU 1-3-2-1--7
SDSU goals: Israels 2, Carrillo, Ferrari, Magro
ASU goals: Carter 2, Casas 2, Gao, Koopman, Sverchek
SDSU saves: Mitchell 7
ASU saves: Rycraw 15