May 15, 2016
San Diego State-UC Santa Barbara Final Box 
LOS ANGELES - San Diego State came up short in the seventh-place game at the NCAA Championship, falling to UC Santa Barbara, 8-2, Sunday afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Center on the campus of UCLA. SDSU finishes the 2016 season with an eighth-place finish nationally.
The Aztecs and Gauchos were evenly matched and the teams appeared to head to the second quarter locked in a scoreless battle. But just before the end-of-period buzzer sounded, Taylor Shore found the back of the net to put UCSB ahead by one.
San Diego State enjoyed a pair of golden chances to take a 2-1 lead, but fortune was not on its side on this day. Alyssa Diacono found herself alone against UC Santa Barbara goalkeeper Mackenzie Brokaw, but her attempt was swatted away from behind. Seconds later, UCSB turned the ball over and Diacono's shot rimmed out. The junior's second shot was a sign of things to come as numerous attempts found the bar rather than the twine.
Despite being unlucky, the Aztecs did not allow it to dictate their effort on defense. With the exception of a Sophie Trabucco skip shot on a power-play opportunity with 5:31 left in the half, the Gauchos were held in check in the quarter. SDSU, meanwhile, kept plugging away on offense, earning a 6-on-5 chance with 4:45 left. The possession ended with Hannah Carrillo's shot hitting the crossbar only to have Tayla Walsh grab the rebound and have her shot denied by Brokaw.
Even with the breaks going against the Aztecs, they only found themselves down, 2-0, entering the third quarter. Diacono got San Diego State on the board in the early moments of the second half. Nikole Ferrari keyed the scoring possession after stealing the ball at mid-pool. The senior then kicked it out in front to Diacono, who scored 42 seconds into the frame.
As quick as SDSU cut its deficit in half, UCSB regained its two-goal cushion 17 seconds later when Bryn Hudson went nearside past Aztec goalie Rachel Mitchell. The fast-hitting strikes were soon a thing of the past as both teams went back and forth for two minutes before Diacono skipped her shot into the cage to get SDSU to within one again.
The Gauchos added single goals from Lauren Martin and Shore in the final three minutes to give them a 5-2 lead. Taylor Gums appeared to have scored SDSU's third goal of the game, but the officials ruled the shot was a tad after the third-period horn had sounded.
In the fourth quarter, UC Santa Barbara kept the Aztecs off the scoreboard and received goals from Trabucco, Martin and Ashley Riley to provide the final margin.
The defeat marked the final game for San Diego State's senior class of Ferrari, Gums, Mitchell and Walsh. Ferrari finished with one assist and a game-high two steals. Gums also finished with two steals and added a drawn ejection. Mitchell had a game-high 13 saves and Walsh completed her year with a steal and two ejections drawn.
The senior class was a part of a San Diego State squad that won the Golden Coast regular-season championship for a third-straight year and captured the program's first conference tournament title. The Aztecs' effort earned them the school's first automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
SDSU's NCAA appearance was its third in school history and first since 2008. The Aztecs defeated Wagner in an NCAA play-in game, which was their third consecutive victory in the NCAA tournament, to earn spot in the championship field of eight at UCLA.
No. 7 UC Santa Barbara 8, T-No. 13 San Diego State 2
Spieker Aquatics Center; Los Angeles, Calif.
SDSU 0-0-2-0--2
UCSB 1-1-3-3--8
SDSU goals: Diacono 2
UCSB goals: Martin 2, Shore 2, Trabucco 2, Hudson, Riley
SDSU saves: Mitchell 13
UCSB saves: Brokaw 10, Gasparini 0