SDSU SENIORS SENT OFF ON GOOD NOTE

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No. 9 Aztecs Defeat No. 19 Cal Baptist on Senior Day

By Ryan Schuler


April 10, 2012 (San Diego)--It may not have been the prettiest, but as they say in sports, “a win is a win.”

Behind two fourth-quarter goals by senior Leanne Ford, No. 9 SDSU defeated No. 19 Cal Baptist on Friday afternoon, April 6 at the Aztec Aquaplex. With the 4-2 win, the Aztecs improved to 18-9 on the season, while the Lancers fell to 17-8.

The win aptly came on Senior Day as seniors Kelly Campoli, Alana Burgess, Meaghan Poland, and Ford played in their final career home games.

“It’s been an exciting journey for me,” Ford said. “It’s kind of surreal to be honest. I still almost don’t really believe it that I’m never going to play here (at SDSU) again. That’s kind of shocking.”

Both teams struggled on the offensive end of the pool in the first half. SDSU hit the crossbar on shots a several times, while Cal Baptist had two goals taken away. Junior Amber Pezzolla would score on a penalty shot to give the Aztecs a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.

“We were doing a lot of things very well, and we had a lot of opportunities, but were just weren’t able to put them away,” Ford said. “We hit the crossbar a few times and a few calls didn’t go our way.”

The offense picked up in the second half as CBU’s Christina Young tied up the score at 1 with 2:39 left in the third quarter. SDSU’s Poland would break the tie 16 seconds later to give the Aztecs the lead once again. The Lancers’ Laura Kocsis would then score to tie up the score at 2 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was all SDSU. The Aztecs would score twice off two made penalty shots by Ford, and the game would end as a SDSU victory, 4-2.

“Our entire team just has so much passion for water polo,” Ford said. “Everyone was so excited for the seniors.”

 


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