SAN DIEGO – Megan Holcomb recorded her second hat trick in as many games, but the No. 21-ranked San Diego State water polo team could not overcome an early 4-0 deficit in its 17-11 loss to No. 9 Loyola Marymount in a Golden Coast Conference game on Saturday afternoon at Aztec Aquaplex.
Prior to the contest, San Diego State honored six seniors: Rose Kanemy, Amanda Chambers, Sofia Righetti, Brooke Lee, Ava Ratajczak and Luna Sarmiento who participated in their final game on The Mesa.
The Aztecs offense was paced by Holcomb who was joined by two-goal scorers Sydney Gish, Shannon Murphy and Mimi Stoupas. Rose Kanemy and Sammi Byers each tallied a goal in the game.
In the cage, Ratajczak started and played the first half giving up 11 goals and making five saves. Tiaare Ahovelo came on in the second half and had one save against six goals allowed.
The contest did not start as the Aztecs (14-12, 4-3 GCC) had hoped. Saddled by multiple players who were unable to practice during the week due to illness, Loyola Marymount (LMU) jumped out to a 4-0 lead after four minutes.
Murphy scored her first of the game at the 3:39 mark to get SDSU on the board, but LMU got the goal back on a powerplay, 15 seconds later, to make it 5-1. Holcomb then bent the net twice. The first goal came with 3:12 on the clock and the second was at 1:37 which trimed the Lions lead to two goals, 5-3. But the period closed with Loyola Marymount scoring twice before the horn sounded and the teams went to the second with San Diego State trailing 7-3.
LMU (16-11, 6-0 GCC) started the second quarter the same way as the first, rattling off four consecutive goals to lead 11-3 with 2:45 to play in the half. Gish picked up the final two tallies of the period, at 1:34 and 44 seconds later, with 50 seconds to go before intermission, to send the game to the break with SDSU down 11-5.
The Scarlet and Black started the third with three straight scores to draw within three goals, 11-8, with 3:30 left on the clock. Murphy got the run started at 4:44 with her second of the game and 25 seconds later Stoupas picked up her first. Byers completed the run with 3:30 to go, but Loyola Marymount answered with a pair of goals to push its advantage to five, 13-8 with 2:33 to play in the quarter. Kanemy scored at the 2:13 mark and Holcomb completed the hat trick with 17 ticks on the clock to send the game to the final eight minutes with the Aztecs trailing 13-10.
It was 14-10 in the fourth when Stoupas scored San Diego State’s final goal, with 4:55 to play, and LMU tacked on three goals in the final three minutes for the final of 17-11.
San Diego State needs to win at least one more game this year, to assure itself of its second straight winning season and the second in as many years as head coach Dana Ochsner has led the program. The last time SDSU put together back-to-back winning campaigns was in 2014 and 2015 under then coach Carin Crawford.
With its loss, San Diego State needs Loyola Marymount to defeat California Baptist on Thursday to secure the No. 4 seed in the Golden Coast Conference Tournament, which begins on April 25.
Loyola Marymount: 7-4-2-2 - 17
San Diego State: 3-2-5-1 - 11
Loyola Marymount Goals: Arino Ruiz (5), Gerber (4), DeMattia (2), Tarantino (2), Kauahi, Lopez, Magano
San Diego State Goals: Holcomb (3), Gish (3), Murphy (2), Stoupas (2), Kanemy, Byers
Loyola Marymount Saves: Barnuevo (5)
San Diego State Saves: Ratajczak (4), Ahovelo (1)