The No. 21 San Diego State women’s water polo team hosted Concordia University Irvine on April 12 at the Aztec Aquaplex. The Aztecs dominated the game from beginning to end winning against the Golden Eagles, 12-8.
SDSU has faced CUI 14th times and the Aztecs have won all games, making it a record of 14-0 against the Eagles.
Head coach Dana Ochsner shared about what was talked to the team before playing CUI.
“Prioritizing what we need to do as a team, but then always respecting your opponent and Concordia always comes out and plays really hard,” Ochsner said. “Identifying their key players, making sure we’re aware of those count numbers, keeping an idea of their system and how we can make sure to be or counteract that as much as possible.”
The Scarlet and Black set the pace right at the start when center Danni Croteau scored 29 seconds into the match. After the goal made by Croteau, 28 seconds later, attacker Claudia Valdes scored the second point for the Aztecs helping them take the lead, 2-0.
“That was definitely one of our better offensive first quarters that we’ve had, where we really came out and established early so it was a lot of fun,” Ochsner said. “To see two different teammates able to score right away in their first possessions just set the tone that we were going to control this game and not let it get away from us.”
The Aztecs weren’t done after those two goals. The Aztecs continued scoring four more goals in the 1st period. Those who scored were Croteau, utility Makena Macedo and attackers Rose Kanemy and Amanda Chambers.
CUI scored three goals, but the Aztecs were still ahead by the end of the first period, 6-3.
Aztecs scored the seventh goal in the second period by utility Hannah Bell.
That was the only goal the Aztecs scored in the second period. The Golden Eagles took over the second period, scoring three goals only trailing behind the Aztecs by one point, 7-6.
Ochsner talked about what she told the team moving on from that second period.
“We got into this mentality like, ‘Oh, we got this and then we kind of drifted a little away from the game plan,’” Ochsner said. “It was all about refocusing (and) making sure that we were all on the same page about what we are trying to accomplish.”
In the third period, the Aztecs took back the momentum scoring three times. Those who scored were center Mimi Stoupas, scoring one, and Kanemy, scoring two. With the Golden Eagles also scoring one in the period, the Aztecs were still leading, 10-7.
By the fourth period, the Aztecs secured the win when Valdes and attacker Shannon Murphy each scored a goal. Although CUI scored the game’s last goal, the Aztecs finished the match with a score of 12-8.
Kanemy was able to help the Aztecs with a total of three goals, two assists and two steals. She credits her teammates for her performance.
“My teammates did a great job being able to find me when I was open and wouldn’t been able to have done it without them,” Kanemy said. “I think the team did a great job working together to get this win. We’ve been working really hard in the last few weeks, and all of our hard work really showed itself in the pool today.”
Ochsner spoke about the team’s contribution as eight Aztecs scored at least one goal.
“We find our most success (is) when we have numerous scorers,” Ochsner said. “It just feels like such a good team when multiple people are contributing to the offense. It was a nice mix, we had juniors, seniors, freshmen and sophomores. It’s just nice to see how well-rounded and balanced this team is and that we do have so many different weapons that we can depend on.”
The Aztecs will take on the Santa Clara Broncos on April 13 in the Aztec Aquaplex at 1 p.m.
