SAN DIEGO/LA JOLLA, CA – Hartwick water polo (1-5) lost to #13 San Diego State and #12 UC San Diego on Thursday in California. The Hawks fell 12-7 to SDSU and by a margin of 14-7 to UCSD.
           
Against the Aztecs in the opener, the Hawks trailed 8-5 after three quarters before falling by a margin of 12-7. 
           
Nikolina Mihajlovik (Mississauga, ONT) scored three goals and Brittany Tait (Kariong, Australia) tallied twice to lead Hartwick.
           
The Aztecs grabbed the lead in the first quarter with a goal at 4:09. The Hawks answered with a tally from Mihajlovic just 13 seconds later to tie it but SDSU jumped in front 20 seconds before the final horn.
           
San Diego State added two more goals in the first 4:50 of the second quarter to take a 4-1 lead. Goals from Blanca Anton Cuesta (Madrid, Spain) and Mihajlovik 45 seconds apart trimmed the margin to 5-3 but the Aztecs tallied with 20 ticks left for a 6-3 lead at halftime.
           
Both teams scored twice in the third period. Katie McKenty (Auckland, New Zealand) scored the Hawks' fourth goal with six minutes left and Mihajlovik made it an 8-5 game after three quarters.
           
In the final period, the Aztecs netted three goals in the opening 1:46 to jump in front 11-5. Tait scored two in a row to pull 'Wick to within four, 11-7, but SDSU recorded the final goal with 2:20 remaining.
           
Michaela Davies (Cronulla, Australia) make six saves in goal for the Hawks. Rachel Mitchell stopped six shots for the Aztecs.
           
Anique Hermann paced San Diego State with four goals on the day. Caroline Israels and Ioli Benekou each scored twice.
           
In the second match against UCSD, the Hawks trailed by a count of 5-4 with three minutes to go in the second quarter, but the Tritons ended the match on a 9-3 run for the 14-7 win.
           
Mihajlovik equaled a season-high with four goals for the Hawks. Tait registered a pair of goals and Lauren Brennan (Canberra, Australia) added one. Davies finished with 10 saves in goal.
          
The Tritons held a 32-23 edge in shots in the game. They were 5-for-5 on power plays with the Hawks only converting on 1-of-9.
           
It took over four and a half minutes before UCSD broke the ice for a 1-0 lead. Tait evened the match at 1:57 but the Tritons tallied three times in the final 1:41 for a 4-1 lead after one quarter.
           
Tait added Hartwick's second goal and Mihajlovik scored 54 seconds apart to cut the deficit to 5-4. UCSD tallied two more times, including a goal with 14 ticks left in the half for a 7-4 lead after two periods.
           
Mihajlovik made it a two-goal game in the third only to have the Tritons register four of the next five goals to earn an 11-6 advantage heading into the final period.
           
The two teams traded goals before UCSD added the final two scores for the 14-7 final score line.
           
The Hawks return to Canyonview Aquatic Center on Saturday when they play in the UCSD Triton Invitational. They face #9 Loyola Marymount at 11:10 a.m. PST in their opening match.