STOCKTON, Calif. – The No. 20-ranked San Diego State water polo team allowed five goals in both the second and four quarters and fell to No. 25 Pacific, 14-12 on Friday afternoon at Chris Kjeldsen Pool in a Golden Coast Conference (GCC) game with seeding on the line as both teams came into the matchup with 3-1 marks in league play.
The Aztec offense was led by a pair of multi-goal scorers. Claudia Valdes scored four times, her eighth game this year with at least a hat trick, and Shannon Murphy’s three goals, her fourth contest with a hat trick or better. SDSU (13-11, 3-2 GCC) got single goals from Hannah Bell, Lucy Bullock, Makena Macedo, Sofia Righetti, and Mimi Stoupas.
In the cage, the Scarlet and Black used all three of their goalies. Tiarre Ahovelo played the first half, made four saves, surrendered six goals and added three steals. Mandy Lagerlof played the third quarter, also had four saves and a steal while giving up three goals. Ava Ratajczak (5-3) was the goalie of record, let five goals in, had a save and an assist.
The game turned on the powerplay. SDSU was 1-of-1 while UOP went 4-of-8. The Tigers (11-8, 4-1 GCC) scored three with the player advantage in the second half; one in the third and two in the fourth quarter.
Neither team had more than a one-goal lead until there was one minute left in the game, when on a penalty shot, UOP went up 14-12.
Valdes got things going with a successful penalty shot 20 seconds in, but in what would be a trend throughout the contest, the opponent scored almost immediately after a successful shot. Just 14 seconds after Valdes scored, the Tigers tied it 1-1. Then at the 4:27 mark, Stoupas was fouled, and Valdes made her second penalty shot of the quarter to give the Aztecs the lead again, 2-1. With 2:12 on the clock, Ahovelo was whistled for an exclusion and was replaced in goal by Lagerlof. UOP took advantage of the situation to score on the powerplay and tie it 2-2 with 1:53 to go in the period, after which Ahovelo returned to the cage. The first eight minutes ended with the teams tied 2-2.
Bell scored the first goal of the second quarter, assisted by Luna Sarmiento at the 6:01 mark, but following an Aztec foul, the Tigers tied it at 3-3 on a powerplay goal with 5:37 to play before the intermission. With 3:49 on the clock, Murphy struck, with an assist credited to Amanda Chambers, to make it 4-3 San Diego State, but following the trend, Pacific came right back and tied it 4-4 at the 3:10 mark.
Valdes completed a first half hat trick with 2:16 to go to put SDSU back in front, with the assist going to Murphy. UOP needed only 24 seconds to make it 5-5 and after a penalty called on Valdes with 69 ticks on the clock, took its first lead of the game, 6-5 on the ensuing penalty shot. SDSU found the equalizer when Righetti banged the back of the cage with 46 seconds left, but it took only 16 seconds for the Tigers to move back into the lead, 7-6, which was the score at the half.
Coming out of the break, Lagerlof went back into goal and the Scarlet and Black got the game tying goal from Bullock on an assist from Valdes with 6:52 on the clock, but Pacific needed only 25 seconds to move back in front 8-7 on a powerplay goal at the 6:27 mark. SDSU took a timeout with 2:28 to go and responded with a Macedo powerplay goal, which was assisted by Rose Kanemy, the 183rd of her career, and the game was knotted up 8-8 with 2:13 on the clock. Then with 55 seconds left, Valdes scored her fourth of the game to put San Diego State up 9-8, but again the lead was short lived after the Tigers scored with 16 ticks on the clock to send the game to the final eight minutes tied 9-9.
Ratajczak took over in goal at the start of the final period and after a penalty by Bullock, UOP scored on the ensuing shot to lead 10-9 at the 7:39 mark, but Bullock came right back and assisted on Murphy’s second goal, with 7:25 left on the clock, to tie it 10-10. Murphy’s strike was followed by a Stoupas goal with 6:53 to play to move SDSU back in front, but UOP got the equalizer 23 seconds later and moved back in front, 12-11, with 5:54 to go. Murphy scored her second goal of the period and third of the game with 4:15 on the clock to tie it 12-12. It was 13-12 Pacific after a powerplay tally with 2:50 left and 14-12 after a successful penalty shot with 60 clicks left on the clock.
San Diego State doesn’t have time to dwell on this outcome, having to play at Santa Clara on Saturday at noon. Live Stats and streaming video are available through links at the team’s schedule page at www.goaztecs.com.
San Diego State: 2-4-3-3 - 12
Pacific: 2-5-2-5 - 14
San Diego State Goals: Valdes (4), Murphy (3), Bell, Bullock, Macedo, Righetti, Stoupas
Pacific Goals: Alaksza (4), Futorian (3), Crum (2), McGowan (2), Petkov (2), Koppany
San Diego State Saves: Ahovelo (4), Lagerlof (4), Ratajczak (1)
Pacific Saves: Dulic (6)