Feb. 10, 2017
SAN DIEGO -
Santa Clara-San Diego State Final Box 
No. 17 San Diego State opened Golden Coast Conference action with a 12-6 home victory over Santa Clara. The three-time defending regular-season champions improved to 2-2 on the season and 1-0 in league. The Broncos, meanwhile, dropped to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the GCC.
"I loved the quick start with a couple of goals in transition," head coach Carin Crawford said. "Overall, we felt in control, but we let them hang around. We had a close second quarter and a tied third quarter, but pitched shutouts in the first and the fourth, and that's a great testament to our defense. I saw a lot of great things once we were able to get our center game going and we were able to pull away. That made the difference."
Makena Magro got the aforementioned quick start going as she scored on SDSU's opening possession from the near side just 22 seconds into the contest, which led to four additional unanswered goals. Senior classmate Ioli Benekou posted the Aztecs' second goal of the frame from her position along the right side and San Diego State carried its 2-0 lead into the next quarter.
The scoring picked up considerably in the second period, starting with three goals from the Aztecs. Shelby Kraft fired a shot that was partially blocked by a Bronco, but the deflection sailed over SCU goalkeeper Francesca Puccinelli and into the net. After that, Alyssa Diacono scored from set and Benekou added a strike from the left to propel SDSU to a 5-0 lead.
Santa Clara got on the board with 2:19 left in the half when Hailey Eberle scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity. Not a minute had passed before Hannah Buck found the back of the net to get the Broncos to with three, but Caroline Israels responded with the Aztecs' sixth goal 15 seconds later. SCU's Blair Akerland finished the scoring by finding the back of the net with 18 seconds left as SDSU entered the mid-game break ahead, 6-3.
The teams kept scoring at a rapid pace and matched each other in the third quarter. Diacono scored to put SDSU ahead, 7-4, but Santa Clara got the goal back with a power-play strike with 6:31 left. The game was scoreless for the next three-plus minutes until Courtney Jarvis took a feed from Katrina King and slotted her shot into the lower corner. The Broncos then sandwiched an Israels goal with single goals and the Aztecs entered the fourth with a 9-6 cushion.
San Diego State gave itself some breathing room with a pair of goals in the opening 1:15, one apiece from Hannah Carrillo on a 6-on-5 opportunity and from Diacono. The Aztecs then doubled up on the Broncos seconds after the game clock hit 5:30, when Magro recorded her second of the game after beating the defense and scoring from out in front in a one-on-one with the SCU keeper. The final 5:27 featured strong defense from both sides, leading to SDSU's six-goal victory.
Goalkeeper Kate McDonnell made six saves in between the pipes for San Diego State, which improved to 20-0 all-time in GCC action. SCU's Puccinelli matched McDonnell with six saves herself.
The Aztecs will return to action on Saturday when they compete the UCSD Triton Invitational in La Jolla. SDSU's first game will be against No. 16 Hartwick at 9:50 a.m. PT and the second of a doubleheader will be at either 1:50 or 3:10 p.m. PT vs. No. 2 USC or SCU.
No. 17 San Diego State 12, Santa Clara 6
Aztec Aquaplex; San Diego, Calif.
SCU 0-3-3-0-6
SDSU 2-4-3-3-12
SCU goals: Buck 2, Akerland 1, Dominguez 1, Eberle 1, Providenza 1
SDSU goals: Diacono 3, Benekou 2, Mak. Magro 2, Israels 2, Carrillo 1, Jarvis 1, Kraft 1
SCU saves: Puccinelli 6
SDSU saves: McDonnell 6