April 20, 2018
SAN DIEGO - No. 21 San Diego State used a strong defensive effort to claw its way back into the game, but ultimately fell to 12th-ranked UC San Diego, 6-5, in the 17th annual Harper Cup game. SDSU falls to 13-15 overall, while the Tritons move to 21-11.
The Aztecs failed to get on the board in the first quarter and were prevented from getting the ball deep in the zone, resulting in a majority of SDSU's attempts coming from the perimeter. The inability to get the ball inside, however, did not affect its defensive effort despite bleeding a Grace Pevehouse goal with 6:24 left in the period. San Diego State got a big save from Maura Cantoni with just over 3:00 to go, extending her right hand to tip a Kayla Fedler shot, and saw Lizzy Bilz track down a Triton who was on a fastbreak to force a turnover with 1:09 left in the frame.
The stellar defensive effort continued in the second quarter and it led to SDSU's offense. First, Cantoni stonewalled Shelby Stender on a UCSD 6-on-5 chance with 5:07 on the clock. An empty SDSU offensive possession followed, but Emily Bennett forced a turnover at mid-pool and then drew an exclusion. Karli Canale found herself with the ball, attacked the cage and fired a strike into the lower corner recording the Aztecs' first goal of the evening.
SDSU's second goal came less than a minute later and was caused, once again, by its defense. The Tritons thwarted a San Diego State possession and passed it back to their goalkeeper only to have Bennett come out of nowhere and swipe the ball out of the air. The freshman did what she has done all season and scored, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead with 3:40 left.
The score remained unchanged for the balance of the half thanks to the Aztec defensive performance. In the final two minutes alone, Courtney Jarvis had a huge field block on a Stender shot attempt, Cantoni stopped a back-handed attempt by Fedler and the unit killed a power play right before the halftime horn.
UC San Diego enjoyed the first early scoring chance of the third quarter when Fedler had the ball at three meters, but was swarmed by the Aztecs causing a turnover. Cantoni later stopped Jessee Ransone when she had a clear look to keep SDSU's lead at 2-1. Canale doubled San Diego State's lead with 2:12 left when she fired a shot that Reilly Gallagher could not stop. The Tritons, however, closed the quarter with two power-play goals (Fedler, Ciara Franke) in the final 1:33 to level the score heading into the final eight minutes.
Unlike the rest of the game, the scoring started early in the period with Ciara Franke finding the back of the net from straight away just 52 seconds into the frame. Jarvis knotted the score at 4-4 with her shot from long range 16 seconds later. Nearly three minutes passed before the Aztecs were called for a pair of exclusions on the same possession, forcing SDSU into a 4-on-6 situation. Taylor Onstott took advantage of the opportunity and scored as San Diego State's first exclusion was ending.
The Aztecs would be heard from again, with the senior Jarvis connecting on another long shot from straight away. This time, however, she skipped her shot into the lower left corner with 2:19 left in regulation. Unfortunately for San Diego State, the Aztecs yielded a Stender goal with 1:38 on the clock, putting them behind the Tritons, 6-5. SDSU had two more chances late in the game, but came up short both times. First, Canale clanged her shot off the post on a 6-on-5 opportunity with 60 seconds to go, and then SDSU took possession of the ball with 25 seconds left. The Aztecs called a timeout 13 seconds later and had Bennett take a shot with five seconds to go only to have attempt fall short.
At the conclusion of the game, UC San Diego's Franke was named the most valuable player after she helped the Tritons win their fourth Harper Cup game.
QUOTE
"It was a great game, definitely worthy of the tradition of the Harper Cup. Our defensive was outstanding. In the first half, it was our defense that generated our offensive opportunities. In the second half, what really was a challenge for us was defending the 5-on-6, so they got a lot of their goals on the power play, but we had outstanding defense. Maura (Cantoni) played great in the goal, Courtney Jarvis had two long-range outside shots, and freshman Karli Canale stepped up as well. I had really hoped we would bring the Harper Cup home for our seniors this year, but it was a great game and great effort, and it's awesome to play such a competitive game to prepare for the Golden Coast Conference Championships next week." ââ'¬" SDSU head coach Carin Crawford
NOTE
Karli Canale shared game-high honors in goals (2) with Courtney Jarvis and UCSD's Ciara Franke. The freshman posted her fifth multi-goal game of the season, which is the third-highest total on the team. Jarvis, meanwhile, logged her second game with multiple goals.
UP NEXT
San Diego State is in action next on Friday, April 27, when it competes at the Golden Coast Championship on the campus of LMU. The Aztecs will be the No. 3 seed and their opponent will be determined later this weekend. The quarterfinal game is set for a 9:15 a.m. PT start.
No. 12 UC San Diego 6, No. 21 San Diego State 5
Canyonview Aquatic Center; San Diego, Calif.
SDSU: 0-2-1-2-5
UCSD: 1-0-2-3-6
SDSU goals: Karli Canale 2, Courtney Jarvis 2, Emily Bennett 1
UCSD goals: Ciara Franke 2, Kayla Fedler 1, Taylor Onstott 1, Grace Pevehouse 1, Shelby Stender 1
SDSU saves: Maura Cantoni 6
UCSD saves: Reilly Gallagher 7, Bennett Bugelli 4