LA JOLLA, Calif. – The No. 22-ranked San Diego State water polo team bounced back from a tough first two days at the Triton Invitational, with a pair of victories, 13-12 over Cal Baptist and 11-6 over Concordia, on Sunday to finish the event with a 2-2 record.
No. 22 San Diego State 13, Cal Baptist 12
Kendall Houck scored three times and after building an 11-7 lead early in the third quarter, the Aztecs held on to a 13-12 win over Cal Baptist in San Diego State's first game on Sunday at the Triton Invitational.
In addition to Houck's three goals, Amanda Chambers, Klara Goldstein, Claudia Valdes and Mimi Stoupas each scored twice while Shannon Murphy and Makena Macdeo put one goal apiece on the scoresheet. In goal, Ava Ratajczak played 24 minutes, had 11 saves while giving up seven goals and earned the win. Mandy Lagerlof, in eight minutes of action, made one save and surrendered six goals.
San Diego State (3-3) scored four goals in just under four minutes in the first quarter. Houck opened the scoring 55 seconds in and was followed by Goldstein, Murphy and Stoupas who banged the back of the cage at the 5:18, 4:38 and 4:08 marks, respectively. The Lancers got two goals back, before Chambers ended the quarter with a goal with 1:52 remaining and the Aztecs took a 5-2 advantage into the second eight minutes.
Cal Baptist scored the first goal of the second quarter before SDSU scored the last two goals before halftime. Houck pushed the Aztecs' lead to 6-3 on her second goal of the game, at the six-minute mark. Stoupas scored with 3:21 to go in the half and San Diego State led 7-3 heading into the break.
The teams traded the first three goals of the third period with CBU wrapping a pair of goals around Valdes' first tally of the contest. The last three goals of the quarter came in a similar order. The Lancers sandwiched two goals around Macedo's score. Macedo's strike came with 3:35 to play in the quarter and the game went to the final period with SDSU leading 9-7.
SDSU scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter with tallies from Valdes, at the 7:40 amrk, and Houck, with 6:32 to play to increase its lead to 11-7. CBU got the goals back, but Goldstein ended the run with her second goal, with 3:34 remaining, and Chambers finished the scoring with two minutes to play in a 13-12 victory.
San Diego State: 5-2-2-4 – 13
Cal Baptist: 2-1-4-5 – 12
San Diego State Goals: Houck (3), Chambers (2), Goldstein (2), Stoupas (2), Valdes (2), Macedo (1), Murphy (1)
Cal Baptist Goals: Haworth (3), Almendariz (2), Moreno (2), Bumbaca (1), Demeski (1), Nielson (1), Ruffer (1), Wong (1)
San Diego State Saves: Ratajczak (11), Lagerlof (1)
No. 22 San Diego State 11, Concordia 6
San Diego State jumped on the Concordia Golden Eagles, to the tune of an 8-2 lead after 16 minutes, and cruised to an 11-6 victory in its final game at the 2024 Triton Invitational.
Sofia Righetti and Mimi Stoupas scored twice to lead the Scarlet and Black, while Lucy Bullock, Mary Comiskey, Klara Goldstein, Rose Kanemy, Makena Macedo and Claudia Valdes put single goals on the scoreboard for SDSU. In addition to her goal, Kanemy paced the team with two of its eight assists. In goal, Ava Ratajczak allowed in two goals, while stopping six shots with a steal and an assist and earned her second win of the day. Tiaare Ahovelo played the second half and had nine saves while letting in four goals, with two steals.
In a three goal first quarter, the Aztecs (4-4) scored the first two on tallies from Valdes, at the 5:52 mark, and Stoupas with 1:05 to play, but Concordia picked up the last score of the period and SDSU held a 2-1 lead after eight minutes.
The Aztecs (4-3) put up six goals to the Golden Eagles' one in the second period and led 8-2 at the intermission. San Diego State's scores came from Gish and Bullock, at the 6:23 and 3:28 marks, respectively. Those goals came wrapped around a Concordia goal, which made it 4-2 SDSU. The Aztecs closed the half scoring the last four goals. The scores came from Kanemy, at 2:31, Comiskey with 1:42 before the break, Goldstein with 1:05 on the clock and Macedo with just five seconds remaining.
The teams split a pair of goals in the third with Concordia tallying the first, at 5:46, and Stoupas answering with 1:50 to go to send the game to the final period with the Scarlet and Black up 9-3.
The Aztecs' two goals in the final period came from Righetti. She scored at the 5:50 mark and with 11 seconds to play in the 11-6 victory.
San Diego State: 2-6-1-2 – 11
Concordia: 1-1-1-3 – 6
San Diego State Goals: Righetti (2), Stoupas (2), Bullock (1), Comiskey (1), Gish (1), Goldstein (1), Kanemy (1), Macedo (1), Valdes (1)
Concordia Goals: Hevezard (2), Perreira (2), Henke (1), Smith (1)
San Diego State Saves: Ahovelo (9), Ratajczak (6)