AZTECS WATER POLO DEFEATS LONG BEACH STATE ON HAGERTY'S LAST-SECOND GOAL

Haley Hagerty scored with nine seconds to play to propel SDSU to a 13th place finish in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

February 23, 2020 (Irvine) - In a rematch of each team’s season opener, which ended with a 10-9 win for Long Beach State, the San Diego State water polo team turned the table on the No. 12 Beach and, on a game-winner from Haley Hagerty with nine seconds left, came away with its own 10-9 decision.  With the win, SDSU finishes in 13^th place at the 2020 Barbara Kalbus Invitational.

For the second game in a row, the Aztecs jumped out to an early lead getting first period goals from Maddy Parenteau and a pair from Isabelle Hastings to take a 3-0 lead with just over three minutes to go in the opening stanza.  LBSU picked up two goals before the period ended to make the score 3-2 heading to the second.

The Beach scored the first three goals in the second quarter to move ahead 5-3, but Hagerty squelched the Long Beach State run with the first of her two goals in the game.  The teams traded scores in the final three minutes, with Emily Bennett finding the back of the net with 30 seconds to get the Aztecs back to within a goal at 6-5 heading into the intermission.

In the third period, San Diego State outscored LBSU 3-2 getting goals from Delaney Binette and Karli Canale in the first three minutes to jump in front 7-6.  The Beach went back ahead with a pair of goals, but Hastings’ third goal of the game came with 26 seconds left in the period and sent it to the final eight minutes tied 8-8.

The team battled to a scoreless tie in the first five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter before LBSU got the go-ahead goal with 2:32 to play.  The Aztecs responded with two tallies in the final minute.  The scores came from Parenteau, which tied it at 9-9 with 58 seconds to play, and Hagerty, who found the back of the net with just nine seconds to play to earn the win.

The Aztecs were successful on 10-of-34 shots.  Hastings led the way with eight shots and three goals.  She also assisted on two more tallies.  Jordann Heimback was in the net for all 32 minutes and finished with six saves.