SAN DIEGO – San Diego State water polo, ranked No. 24 in the nation, is just the second team outside the top-10 to score in double digits against No. 8 Fresno State this year, but it wasn't enough as the Aztecs fell 15-11 to the Bulldogs in the semifinal round of the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Aztec Aquaplex.
SDSU's offense was led by Danni Croteau's hat trick. It was the second hat trick of her San Diego State career, with the previous one coming against Fresno State in last year's GCC semifinal game. Rose Kanemy and Sofia Righetti scored two goals apiece, while Kendall Houck, Samantha Loughlin, Claudia Valdes and Amanda Legaspi scored one goal each.
In goal, Mandy Lagerlof played the first three quarters and had five saves but surrendered 13 goals and took the loss. Tiaare Ahovelo came on in the final period and had one save while allowing two goals.
After the Bulldogs, the 1-seed in the tournament, scored just 17 seconds into the game, Houck got the equalizer at the 4:35 mark. Loughlin then gave SDSU (12-18) the lead with a goal with 3:16 to go in the quarter, but Fresno State got the last three goals of the period to take a 4-2 lead after eight minutes.
Fresno State scored the first four goals of the second period to extend its advantage to 8-2.
With 2:36 to play before intermission Croteau scored, but 20 seconds later the Bulldogs, the 1-seed, got the goal back. The Scarlet and Black then scored three times without a Fresno State answer to get it to a 9-6 deficit. Kanemy scored at the 1:31 mark and Righetti did the same with 1:03 to play before the half. The run was capped by Valdes, who scored with 26 seconds to go. That looked like it would be all the goals for the half, but with no time left on the clock Fresno State (17-8) scored to take a 10-6 advantage after 16 minutes.
Coming out of the break, Legaspi scored the first goal of the second half, but Fresno State got the next three tallies to make it 13-7. Righetti got into the scoring column with 1:50 left in the third to send it to the final quarter with SDSU down 13-8.
In the last eight minutes, the Bulldogs scored to make it 14-8 with 5:09 left on the clock, but Croteau then scored back-to-back goals to draw the Aztecs to within four at 14-10. The first goal came at the 4:14 mark and the second with 2:31 to play. Fresno State pushed the lead back to five with 1:59 to go and Kanemy hit the back of the cage as the clock expired for the final score of 15-11.
San Diego State will wrap up its season when it plays 2-seed LMU for third place on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT at the Aquaplex.
San Diego State: 2-4-2-3 - 11
Fresno State: 4-6-3-2 - 15
San Diego State Goals: Croteau (3), Kanemy (2), Righetti (2), Houck (1), Legaspi (1), Loughlin (1), Valdes (1)
Fresno State Goals: Sonkoly (3), Andress (2), Guevremont (2), Howarth (2), Schultz (2), Ochoa (2), Grim (1), Rosa (1)
San Diego State Saves: Lagerlof (5), Ahovelo (1)
Fresno State Saves: Jasny (10)
Water Polo Falls to Fresno State 15-11 in GCC Semis
