Feb. 10, 2018
SAN DIEGO - No. 18 San Diego State opened the Triton Invitational at nearby UC San Diego with a convincing 7-4 victory over T-No. 13 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday morning. The win moved the Aztecs to 3-2 on the season, while the Gauchos fell to 6-4.
The game was slow-moving at the outset as neither team was able to connect on any of their attempts in the opening minutes. UCSB ended the drought with a Kate Pipkin goal after 3:09 had passed. Lizzy Bilz tied the score with 1:47 left in the frame and that seemed to get SDSU going as the game moved into the second quarter.
Courtney Jarvis gave the Aztecs their first lead less than two minutes into the frame and San Diego State would not relinquish the cushion after that. Hannah Carrillo and Emily Bennett added one goal apiece on back-to-back possessions, which helped SDSU take a 4-1 lead into halftime.
UC Santa Barbara sliced its deficit in half with a Sarah Snyder goal in the opening minute, but Bennett pushed the Aztecs' lead back to three with her second of the day and Bilz followed suit with 5:34 left in the third quarter. Pipkin added another goal for the Gauchos with 5:00 left and Shelby Kraft scored with under two minutes to go to propel the Aztecs to a 7-3 lead entering the final stanza.
SDSU allowed just one goal in the fourth quarter, a Sarah Kreiser strike, but with only 2:48 to play, the Aztecs cruised to the finish line with the victory.
THE NOTE
SDSU snapped a five-game losing skid vs. UC Santa Barbara and improves to 44-17 all-time vs. the Gauchos. The 61 meetings vs. UCSB is the most for San Diego State against any one team.
STAT OF THE GAME
Goalkeeper Maura Cantoni posted a career-high 13 saves and now has three career double-figure save performances, including two in three games this season.
UP NEXT
San Diego State will face T-No. 2 USC at 3:10 p.m. PT at Canyonview Pool. The Women of Troy were 13-1 winners over Sonoma State.
No. 18 San Diego State 7, T-No. 13 UC Santa Barbara 4
Canyonview Pool; San Diego, Calif.
UCSB: 1-0-2-1—4
SDSU: 1-3-3-0—7
UCSB goals: Kate Pipkin 2, Sarah Kreiser 1, Sarah Snyder 1
SDSU goals: Emily Bennett 2, Lizzy Bilz 2, Hannah Carrillo 1, Courtney Jarvis 1, Shelby Kraft 1
UCSB saves: Becca Buck unavailable
SDSU saves: Maura Cantoni 13