GLENDORA, Calif. – Trailing 2-1 midway through the first quarter, the San Diego State water polo team scored seven unanswered goals and defeated Azusa Pacific 10-5 in Golden Coast Conference (GCC) action on Wednesday afternoon at the Glendora High School Pool.
With the victory the Aztecs improved to 5-13 overall and 4-1 in the GCC and in second place in the league standings with just two games left in the regular season. Azusa Pacific falls to 3-3 on the year and 2-3 in GCC action.
The Cougars open the game with a pair of goals sandwiched around a Lucia Carballo strike. APU scored the game's initial goal 38 seconds in, but 20 seconds later Carballo answered with a goal for SDSU and then with 4:57 to play in the opening period Azusa Pacific jumped back in front 2-1.
And then the Aztecs took over. They scored seven times without a response from the Cougars to put a stranglehold on the game.
Karli Canale scored two of her game-high four goals to open the run. She had tallies with 4:22 and 3:02 left in the first quarter to tie the game and then give the Aztecs a lead they would never relinquish.
Emily Bennett followed Canale with three straight tallies. The first came with 2:05 to go in the first, the second came at 7:01 in the second, and the last of the run came at 4:11 to send the teams to intermission with San Diego State up 6-2.
The third period opened with a Spencer Samuel strike, at 5:45, and then Bennett scored her fourth goal of the game to make it 8-2 with 4:18 left in the quarter. APU got back into the scoring column at 3:55 to play to get the game back to an 8-3 score heading into the final stanza.
The fourth period saw the teams trade goals with Canale scoring at the 6:32 and 5:21 marks and APU answering each with a goal of its own. When the final whistle sounded the Aztecs had secured a 10-5 victory.
Raquel de Pinho recorded her second consecutive game with double digit saves, totaling 12 against the Cougars and improved her record to 5-5 overall and 4-1 in conference action.
THE NOTE
San Diego State held Azusa Pacific scoreless from 4:57 in the first period to 3:55 in the third period, a total of 17:02 of game action or more than half to the 32-minute game.
THE STAT
In the Aztecs last three games, Emily Bennett has a .476 shooting percentage (10 goals on 21 shots).
San Diego State: 4-2-2-2 - 10
Azusa Pacific: 2-0-1-2 - 5
San Diego State Goals: Canale (4), Bennett (4), Carballo (1), Samuel (1)
Azusa Pacific Goals: Ford (2), Ortiz (1), Rainey (2), Tisdale (1)
San Diego State Saves: de Pinho (12)
Azusa Pacific Saves: Lott (11)
-SDSU-
Aztecs Double Up Azusa Pacific 10-5
