Let the other team hang around long enough and there’s a definite possibility defeat could be stolen from the jaws of victory. The San Diego State water polo team learned this cruel lesson on Sunday.

Seventh-ranked SDSU (9-6) appeared to be sitting pretty as it was leading by three goals with four minutes to go in the fourth. But the Aztecs surrendered four straight goals to ninth-ranked Arizona State, sending the team home from the UC Irvine Invitational with a 10-9 loss.

Head coach Carin Crawford said her team can use this game as a learning experience.

“We couldn’t close them out,” Crawford said. “We started to coast a bit and we can’t coast to victory.  It was a tough way to learn that lesson.”

The UCI Invitational will be a weekend the Aztecs will want to forget as they went 1-3 during their four-game run.

SDSU beat the 10th-ranked host school, UCI, 8-4 in its first game Saturday.

In its second game, the team lost to No. 2 USC for the second straight weekend, this time with a score of 11-3.

Before they played ASU on Sunday, the Aztecs dropped another 10-9 decision to No. 6 Loyola Marymount.