SAN DIEGO – San Diego State water polo player Karli Canale, a junior driver, was named the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) Player of the Week on Thursday morning. The announcement was made at the conference office in Aliso Viejo, Calif.
In a pair of GCC games last weekend, Canale led the Aztecs to a 2-0 record with wins at Santa Clara (8-4) and at No. 23 Pacific (11-9). The victories place San Diego State at the top of the league standings with a 3-0 record.
For the weekend, Canale was 6-for-12 in shot attempts with two assists, five steals and two field blocks.
Against Santa Clara, the San Diego native scored single goals in the second, third and fourth quarters. Her goal in the second made it 2-0 SDSU and her tally 1:15 into the third period pushed the advantage to 5-1. That goal would end up being the game winner. She also added a tally in the fourth quarter, the last of the game, to make the final score 8-4.
Against No. 23 Pacific, Canale scored with 4:19 to play in the first which gave the Aztecs a 2-1 lead. Coming out of the intermission, with the game tied 5-5, the La Jolla High School product found the back of the net twice in the third quarter. Her first goal came just 27 seconds into the second half and just over three minutes later she scored again to give SDSU a 7-5 lead. With 4:35 to play in the game, Canale assisted on an Isabelle Hastings' game-winning goal which at the time gave SDSU a 10-7 lead and the team would eventually go on to an 11-9 victory.
This is the first Player of the Week honor for Canale, as well as the first for an Aztec in 2020.
-SDSU-