March 14, 2018
SAN DIEGO -
Game Week Preview
No. 20 San Diego State (8-10) at No. 7 UC Irvine (5-10) - 5 p.m. PT
Friday, March 16 | Anteater Aquatics Center | Irvine, Calif.
No. 17 Princeton (7-6) at No. 20 San Diego State (8-10) - 3 p.m. PT
Monday, March 19 | Aztec Aquaplex | San Diego, Calif.
Storylines
- No. 20 San Diego State will play two games in four days with a rare Friday-Monday sequence. The Aztecs will face seventh-ranked UC Irvine on the road at 5 p.m. PT Friday evening before returning to Aztec Aquaplex to play host to No. 17 Princeton at 3 p.m. PT Monday afternoon.
- After spending the first month of the season on the road, San Diego State returned home to play five games in three days last week. The Aztecs dropped a Golden Coast Conference game to 12th-ranked LMU and then won three of four games at the Aztec Invitational. SDSU defeated No. 20 Harvard, Sonoma State and Bucknell with the lone miscue occurring to fifth-ranked Hawai'i.
- The loss to the Lions was San Diego State's first in Golden Coast action in the history of the league. The Aztecs had won 27 straight conference games before the 5-2 loss. SDSU trailed, 1-0, at halftime and faced a 4-2 deficit heading into the final quarter before suffering the three-goal defeat. Freshman Karli Canale posted both of the Aztecs' goals on 6-on-5 situations.
- SDSU earned a much-needed victory by taking down 20th-ranked Harvard, 7-6, in the Aztec Invitational opener. The win stopped a five-game losing streak and gave San Diego State a victory over a team ahead of it in the national rankings. Freshmen Emily Bennett and Lucia Carballo led the team with two goals apiece and the first-year class (Canale and Mary Myers each added one goal) was responsible for six of SDSU's seven goals. Senior Malia Magro provided the other goal. The Aztecs improved to 2-0 this season vs. the Crimson.
- San Diego State posted its second win in a row with a 15-3 decision over Sonoma State. The game provided an opportunity for a number of Aztecs to log minutes in the pool, especially their goalkeepers. Maura Cantoni made five saves in more than a quarter's worth of action. Emily Lowell entered with 2:21 left in the second and gave way to Mia Harris with 5:01 left in the game. It was Harris' first action of the season.
- In the final game of the Aztec Invitational, SDSU received a career-high six goals and a personal-record five ejections drawn from Emily Bennett. The freshman scored her six goals on nine attempts and was responsible for more than 50 percent of the team's 11 goals. Bennett also logged half of the Aztecs' 10 ejections drawn.
- Bennett's six goals were the most in a single game for SDSU since Caroline Israels posted six goals vs. Azusa Pacific on April 29, 2017. The six goals are tied for the sixth-most in a single game in school history. The freshman now has 32 goals, which leads all Aztecs.
- San Diego State returns to the familiar confines of Anteater Aquatics Center to play UC Irvine on Friday. SDSU played Hawai'i at the facility on Feb. 23, for the opening game of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational.
- SDSU is 25-13 all-time vs. the Anteaters, but have dropped seven straight decisions to UC Irvine. Despite its recent downturn, San Diego State has played UCI tough, having lost five by two goals or less with two coming in overtime, including a sudden-victory effort in 2015.
- The Aztecs return home on Monday to face Princeton. Even with its 3-2 home record this season, San Diego State has enjoyed success at Aztec Aquaplex. SDSU is 62-23 (.729) at home since the start of the 2011 campaign. The Aztecs will play four of their next six games at home, beginning with the game vs. the Tigers.
- San Diego State will come into the Princeton game with a 13-4 all-time record against the Tigers. Princeton, however, has won four in a row in the series by a combined nine goals.
Opponent Notebook
UC Irvine
The Anteaters are 5-10 on the season and ranked No. 7 in the nation... Last week, UC Irvine split a pair of games, losing to No. 3 USC, 13-7, on the road before defeating No. 19 CSUN at home, 13-3... Before facing the Aztecs, UCI will play host to No. 22 Harvard... Tara Prentice leads the Anteaters with 21 goals and Natalie Seidemann ranks second with 19... Morgan Jones and Jenna Phreaner have logged the most minutes in net, playing 158:00 and 136:00, respectively.
Princeton
The Tigers are 7-6 on the year and will be busy before facing the Aztecs... Princeton is set to face No. 24 California Baptist, 23rd-ranked Marist, Fresno Pacific and No. 11 Loyola Marymount at the LMU Invitational, Friday-Saturday... Haley Wan leads the Tigers with 25 goals and is ahead of Chelsea Johnson, who has 20... Marissa Webb has earned the most minutes in net (358:00) compared to Kasey Bersh (7:53).