FRESNO, Calif. – The No. 13-ranked San Diego State water polo team spotted Fresno State, also ranked No. 13, three goals and played a game of chase for the rest of the afternoon, ultimately falling 14-12, in its Golden Coast Conference (GCC) regular-season finale at Fresno State’s Aquatics Center.
The Aztecs (15-9, 4-2 GCC) offense was paced by senior Sydney Gish who scored four times, and in the back-to-back games in the Central Valley this weekend, the senior had a team-high seven goals. Mimi Stoupas, who has scored multiple goals in eight of the last nine games, finished with a hat trick. Both Megan Holcomb and Sammi Byers scored once yesterday at Fresno Pacific, and each bent the net twice today, and Claudia Valdes scored once.
Kyla Panajaya (4-3) played all 32 minutes, making nine saves, while surrendering 14 goals. A product of Orange (Calif.) Lutheran High School, the freshman also added a career-best three steals.
It took just 18 seconds for Fresno State (13-9, 4-1 GCC) to get on the scoreboard, and then rattle off two more scores to lead 3-0, just past the halfway point of the opening quarter. After the Bulldogs third goal, and an Aztecs’ timeout, SDSU got right back into the contest with two unanswered goals.
At 3:47, Stoupas got the Scarlet and Black on board, with an assist to Byers, and 24 seconds later, it was Byers scoring on an assist from Stoupas to make it 3-2 with 3:23 to play in the first. Fresno State pushed its lead back to two goals, with a strike at 1:20, and then to three goals, 5-2, with another score with 58 seconds left in the opening stanza.
Down 5-2 to open the second quarter, Gish scored at the 6:08 mark to get it to 5-3, but Fresno State responded 18 seconds later to move its lead back to three, 6-3. It was 7-3 after a Bulldogs score at 1:51 and then 8-3 another 40 seconds later.
The final strike of the half looked like it would belong to Fresno State, which pushed its lead to 9-3 on a score with nine seconds remaining, but Aztecs hustled to the other end of the pool and on Gish’s second of the first half, sent the game to the intermission with SDSU trailing 9-4.
Fresno State scored the opening goal of the second half, 26 seconds in, to move ahead 10-4 and then pushed on to 11-4 at the 6:50 mark. Gish halted the Bulldogs’ mini run at the 6:25 mark with her third goal of the game. Stoupas followed the Gish tally with her second and third strikes of the game at 5:56 and 5:28 to make it an 11-7 game.
After a Fresno State score at 2:23 it was 12-7. Holcomb responded with back-to-back goals; the first came just nine seconds after the Bulldogs scored and the second at 1:31 to draw SDSU to within three, 12-9. Then, with one second on the clock, Fresno State found the back of the net to send the game to the final eight minutes with San Diego State trailing 13-9.
Valdes bent the net with six minutes to play, and it was 13-10. Gish scored with 3:27 to go and it was 13-11, but after a Fresno State timeout, the Bulldogs made it 14-11 with 2:18 on the clock. Byers sliced the lead back to two, 14-12, with 88 seconds to play. The Aztecs would only get two more shot attempts, but neither beat the goalie and the game ended with the Scarlet and Black at the short end of a 14-12 total.
Fresno State’s Hailey Andress scored four goals, a team high, and in the net, Katelyn Mobley earned the win surrendering 12 goals against six saves.
San Diego State: 2-2-5-3 - 12
Fresno State: 5-4-4-1 - 14
San Diego State Goals: Gish (4), Stoupas (3), Byers (2), Holcomb (2), Valdes (1)
Fresno State Goals: Andress (4), Anderson (3), Bryant (2), van der Kolk (2), Stephens (2), Daly (1)
San Diego State Saves: Pranajaya (9)
Fresno State Saves: Mobley (6)