SAN DIEGO – Three Aztecs scored twice, and the No. 20-ranked San Diego State water polo team trailed 6-5 at the half against No. 9 Fresno State, but the Bulldogs outscored SDSU 4-1 in the third quarter, and 9-4 in the second half to pull away for a 15-9 win on Saturday afternoon at Aztec Aquaplex in a Golden Coast Conference matchup.
The Scarlet and Black offense was paced by two goals each from Sydney Gish, Shannon Murphy and Claudia Valdes while Rose Kanemy, Makena Macedo and Mimi Stoupas scored once apiece. Ava Ratajczak (5-2), in her first action in two weeks, played the entire game in goal making eight saves while letting 15 shots past her.
Kanemy had one assist, has 182 for her career, and is four from tying Elana Cervantes (2004-07) for the program record for assists in a career.
The teams traded six shots in the first 3:43 before the Bulldogs (10-7, 4-1 GCC) broke the seal on the cage with a goal at the 4:17 mark. Forty seconds later, Stoupas bent the net on a powerplay to tie the game at 1-1. With 1:48 on the clock, Valdes gave San Diego State (13-10, 3-1 GCC) a 2-1 lead, but 11 seconds after the Valdes goal, Fresno State tied it up and the game went to the second stanza with the scoreboard reading 2-2.
Twenty-nine seconds into the second quarter, Kanemy put SDSU back in front, 3-2. Fresno State got the equalizer with 7:04 on the clock, took a 4-3 lead with 6:34 to play before the intermission, and increased its advantage to 5-3 on a goal at the 3:54 mark. Gish scored her first of the game with 2:42 to go to draw the Aztecs to within a goal, and on Murphy’s first of the contest, the game was tied 5-5 with 2:09 to play in the first half. However, the Bulldogs scored the final goal of the initial 16 minutes, with 18 seconds to go, and led SDSU 6-5 at the half.
Coming out of the break and with 3:45 on the clock, Valdes got a powerplay equalizer to make it 6-6, but Fresno State came right back, 13 seconds following Valdes’ tally, scored and started a 9-3 run over the final 12:28, including three straight goals to end the third quarter and had a 10-6 lead heading to the final eight minutes.
It was 11-6 with 6:49 to play when Murphy scored her second of the game to get San Diego State to within four goals, 11-7. The Bulldogs made it a five-goal margin, 12-7, with a goal at the 5:42 mark and then pushed it to six goals with another strike, with 5:01 to go. Macedo banged the back of the cage with 4:12 to play to draw the Aztecs back to within four goals, but one minute later Fresno State answered with its 14th goal of the game. Gish got SDSU’s final goal of the game, at the 1:18 mark, and the Bulldogs scored with 28 seconds to go for the final score of 15-9.
Fresno State: 2-4-4-5 - 15
San Diego State: 2-3-1-3 - 9
Fresno State Goals: Andress (3), Grimm (2), Mossman (2), Simshauser (2), Williams (2), Cranley, Simone
San Diego State Goals: Gish (2), Murphy (2), Valdes (2), Kanemy, Macedo, Stoupas
Fresno State Saves: I. Tulley-Giles (8)
San Diego State Saves: Ratajczak (5)