WATER POLO — The No. 19 UCSD women’s water polo team has had
its ups and downs this season, leading to its current 15-15 record. But one of
its high points came in a 6-5 loss to No. 5 San Diego State University on April
5 in the Harper Cup. The Tritons began the day with a 10-1 victory over
to the Aztecs that left them optimistic about the remainder of the season.
“Over the last three weeks, we’ve been playing good games
followed by bad games,” senior utility Nicole Hermann said. “In our game
against
we fought hard, played well and got back to how we started out the season.”
The Tritons were in for a challenge against the Aztecs even
before the game started, having lost 30 of the 40 previous games between the
two teams. The Aztecs struck first, scoring an easy counterattack goal to get
on the board. UCSD answered back on the next possession with a goal from
sophomore utility Stephanie Heinrich to tie the score with
again to put away another counterattack goal that gave the Aztecs a 2-1 lead at
the end of the first period.
The Tritons stepped up their transition defense in the
second quarter, holding the Aztecs scoreless for most of the period. With
six-on-five opportunity to put UCSD in a two-goal hole. The Tritons got some
bad luck at the end of the half when senior goalkeeper Kim Hockett was called
for a foul outside of the goal. With the Tritons’ goalie out, the Aztecs were
able score on the open goal to put UCSD in a 4-1 hole at halftime.
After being held scoreless in the second quarter, the
Tritons needed a score to stay in the game. Hermann, using a pass from senior
attacker Elizabeth Hahn, gave UCSD that goal and cut the Aztecs’ lead to 4-2.
After SDSU took advantage of another six-on-five opportunity, the Tritons
responded when senior two-meter Judy Emaus scored a backhand goal from the set.
A lob score from junior attacker Sydney Gstettenbauer cut the lead to one at
5-4 with
quarter.
“Our goal in the game was to show [
Diego
little,” Hermann said. “It was a big game, and we haven’t won the Harper Cup in
a while.”
With the Aztecs in danger of a rare loss to UCSD, they
answered back in the first possession of the fourth quarter, powering a
nearside shot through the goal to take a 6-4 lead. The game was dominated by
defense until Emaus scored her second goal on a rollout from the two-meter with
49 seconds left. The Tritons had an opportunity to tie the game and send it
into overtime, but an errant pass gave the Aztecs possession with 10 seconds
left in the game and sealed the win for SDSU.
“We played at a much higher level than we have been and were
intense for all four quarters,” Hermann said. “We fought hard, kept going and
came together as a team.”
UCSD started the day with a convincing 10-1 victory over
their 15th victory of the season.
“It’s always tough playing a team that’s not very good
because you don’t want to play down to their level,” head coach Larry Sanders
said. “I think that we played well and used it as a warmup for our second
game.”
The Tritons have just three games left before the Western
Water Polo Association Championships on April 25 through April 27. Two out of
the next three contests will come against ranked opponents — the first coming
against No. 4 University of Hawaii on April 9. The Tritons’ goal is to win the
WWPA championships but, with many teams ahead of them in the WWPA standings,
taking the title will not be easy.
“Our goal is to be focused and intense throughout our
games,” Sanders said. “We believe that if we shoot 40 to 50 percent on our
six-on-five opportunities than we are going to win games. We’re going to try to
work on that and get better at it.”
The Tritons’ next game against No. 4 University of Hawaii
will be at home before the Tritons travel to
to take on No. 11 Loyola Marymount University on April 12.
