FRESNO, Calif. – Katie Ratcliff scored three straight goals, her second hat trick of the year, to open the No. 20 San Diego State water polo team's scoring in the second half, but No. 8 Fresno State won the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) game, 14-9, on Saturday at the Fresno State Aquatics Center.
Trailing 11-4 and 4:27 to play in the third, Ratcliff sparked a four-goal run that would see San Diego State (10-13, 2-2 GCC) pull to within striking distance at three goals down.
Ratcliff's first goal came at the 4:27 mark. She scored again with 3:31 left in the period and then again 35 seconds later. Jessica Leckich followed Ratcliff's hat trick with her second goal of the game. The Leckich goal came with 1:55 to play in the third and made it an 11-8 game.
Fresno State (14-7, 4-0 GCC) got a goal back at the 1:43 mark and after Laurene Padilla scored with 58 ticks left, the game went to the fourth with the Aztecs trailing 12-9. The only scoring in the last quarter came from Fresno State, two goals, which pushed the final score to 14-9.
EARLY RUN DOOMS AZTECS
The Bulldogs opened the game with an early goal. Laurene Padilla, with the Aztecs first goal of the game, tied it at 1-1, at the 4:34 mark. However, Fresno State then went on a 5-0 run over the next five-plus minutes to take a 6-1 lead.
Jessica Leckich halted the Bulldogs' run with a goal with 4:57 to play in the second, which was followed by a Rose Kanemy score a minute and 21 seconds later to pull the Aztecs to within three, 6-3. Fresno State got the two goals back before Samantha Loughlin scored with 1:01 before the intermission. After the Bulldogs got the last tally of the half the score was 9-4 heading to the break and then scored the first two goals of the third to lead 11-4 and set the stage for Ratcliff's hat trick.
Kendall Houck, Spencer Samuel and Kanemy were credited with assists.
The Aztecs used two goalies in the game. Zoe Morgan played the first 21 minutes and made four saves but surrendered 11 goals. Raquel de Pinho finished the game giving up three goals and stopping five others.
San Diego State: 1-3-5-0 – 9
Fresno State: 4-5-3-2 – 14
San Diego State Goals: Ratcliff (3), Leckich (2), Padilla (2), Kanemy (1), Loughlin (1)
Fresno State Goals: Muzsnay (6), Fitzgerald (2), Guevremont (3), Nicholson (1), Ochoa (1)
San Diego State Saves: de Pinho (5), Morgan 4
Fresno State Saves: Jasny (5)
-SDSU-
No. 20 Aztecs Toppled at No. 8 Fresno State, 14-9
