When it comes to the top, No. 8-ranked San Diego State is findingit tough to get over it.
SDSU’s goal this season is to finish no lower than sixth in itsconference, which includes Stanford, UCLA, Long Beach State andPacific.
The Aztecs are holding their own in the Mountain Pacific SportsFederation, but are finding out it’s not so easy upsetting the topfour teams.
SDSU already lost to No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 Cal, but if they wereready for an upset, it was No. 3 USC.
The Aztecs lost to USC 13-8 Saturday at Bud Kearns Pool. TheTrojans went on a 3-0 run early in the first quarter and tookimmediate control of the game. SDSU stopped the run with a hugeassist by junior Casey Finnegan to senior Lisa Weise for the goal.
The Aztecs were down 10-4 at the half, but made a valiant effortin the fourth quarter, making a 3-0 run in the final minutes of thegame.
Sophomore Holly Hartzell led SDSU with three goals. Beth Merlo,Dominique Delgado, Amber Prestegard and Finnegan each added a goal tothe Aztecs’ offense.
“Everybody played really well even though we didn’t win,” Finnegansaid. “Our intensity was high and everybody was trying hard. Ourdefense and offense was good, and we were communicating well.”
Coach Carin Crawford said the team gave a strong offensiveperformance and played one of the better games this season.
“They have a strong, talented offensive team,” Crawford said. “Theoffense was really aggressive and they were tough to stop, but ourteam didn’t give up and we weren’t intimidated.”
Crawford said the team did a good job helping each other outdefensively and were doing a better job recognizing thecounterattack.
On Thursday afternoon, SDSU hosted Cal State Northridge at BudKearns Pool and drowned the Matadors 9-2.
This game was one for the benches as Crawford had the reservesplay most of the game.
Freshman goalkeeper Cindy Ayala played her first conference gameas an Aztec, splitting time in the cage with sophomore Ashley Zabeland senior Heather Stiles. Ayala netted four saves and allowed nogoals, while Stiles and Zabel combined to record three saves.
SDSU controlled the entire game, only allowing the Matadors toscore once in the first quarter and again in the third.
Prestegard had a strong shooting performance and led the Aztecswith four goals, followed by junior Jackie Lopez, who added two.Whitney Winlow, Monica DeRosier and Delgado each added a goal.
Crawford said even though SDSU won, the team could have executedbetter on offense against a first-year Northridge program.
“This was a solid conference win,” Crawford said. “The benchstepped up and gave some good minutes, but we weren’t recognizing theoffensive counter attacks.”
SDSU’s overall record is 13-9 and 4-4 in conference play. TheAztecs head up north again to play No. 5 San Jose State April 4 andthen No. 1 Stanford April 5.
