This past weekend, the Terrapin Invitational in College Park, Md. kicked off the start of the San Diego State women’s water polo season. Although SDSU had three games in two days, the girls left the East Coast undefeated.

On Saturday the Aztecs faced Marist and Wagner. Clearly preseason practices and training are paying off for the ladies, as they ended the day 2-0, winning with scores of 15-1 and 13-7 respectively.

SDSU took on the University of Maryland Sunday morning.

Senior utility Meaghan Poland dominated the game, scoring all four goals in the first half. Her quick moves down the pool left Maryland unable to respond.

While SDSU led 4-3 at halftime, the third quarter, for the most part, was scoreless until the last minute and a half. The Aztecs fired off two goals and took a 3-point cushion lead going into the final quarter.

SDSU finished the fourth quarter strong, putting the game away with three additional goals, making the final score 8-4.

While Poland led her teammates with four goals, the remaining four were scored by junior utility Amber Pezzolla, freshman utility Carina Carballo and freshman two-meter Tori Long. Senior goalkeeper Kelly Campoli ended the game with four saves.

According to head coach Carin Crawford, the team didn’t have a particular strategy going into the Maryland match.

“Maryland is a vastly improved team, and we are less familiar playing in indoor pools,” she said. “Our depth was an advantage; we swam hard and wore them down. We also had a few good fast breaks and smart clock management.”

As far as Crawford’s expectations are concerned this season, they are high, but manageable. “This weekend was a great start, we went 3-0. I think that we will certainly live up to our preseason ranking and make the top five,” she said. “Based on how we played this weekend, I don’t see why we wont.”