SAN DIEGO, CA- #8 San Diego State led 5-0 midway through the second period and held off the #18 Hartwick water polo team as it won 10-5 on Thursday afternoon at the Aztec Aquaplex. With the win, the Aztecs remain undefeated at 4-0 while the Hawks drop to 2-3.
Jemma Dendy Young (Cape Town, South Africa) scored a pair of goals to lead the Hawks.
Sami Capparelli (Miami, FL),
Katie Ermakova (Columbia, MD), and
Britt Tait (Kariong, Austrailia) all scored once.
Michaela Davies (Cronulla, Austrailia) stopped nine shots in the cage.
San Diego State was led by Taylor Gums' three scores. Caroline Israels and Claire McKinnon both had two goals. Ioli Benekou, Alysaa Diacono, and Taelor Moreno all had one goal each. Rachel Mitchell had 11 saves in goal.
The Aztecs led 5-0 with 5:27 remaining in the second period after McKinnon's goal. 'Wick would finally get on the board as Dendy Young hit a skip shot from the right side of the cage to make it a 5-1 game at halftime.
The two teams traded goals in the third period as the Aztec lead remained at four goals, 7-3, going into the final quarter of play. SDSU received scores from Benoku and Gums to increase its advantage to 9-3 with 3:29 showing on the game clock.
The Hawks would stage a brief rally with two goals coming 13 seconds apart. Tait scored on a 6-on-5 advantage at 2:51 and then
Cayley Tonkin (Cape Town, South Africa) found Dendy Young for the goal to make it a 9-5 contest with 2:38 remaining to play. The Aztecs scored the final goal of the day with 1:52 left to complete the scoring and come away with the victory.
Hartwick will next compete at the UC San Diego Triton Invite this coming weekend. The Hawks will go up against #10 Arizona State at 12 p.m. local time (3 p.m. Eastern) on Saturday.
Hartwick 0-1-2-2—5
SDSU 3-2-2-3—10
Hartwick goals: Jemma Dendy Young 2, Sami Capparelli, Katie Ermakova, Britt Tait
SDSU goals: Taylor Gums 3, Caroline Israels 2, Claire McKinnon 2, Ioli Benekou, Alyssa Diacono, Taelor Moreno
Hartwick saves: Michaela Davies 9
SDSU saves: Rachel Mitchell 11
