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San Diego State gets its first victory of the season on Sunday
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
March 7, 2021 (San Diego) - Valhalla alum Spencer Samuel found the back of the cage with 1:13 to play in the second overtime period to give San Diego State water polo a 7-6 lead, which it made stand up, and defeated No. 5 Michigan on Sunday at the Aquaplex. The Aztecs wouldn’t have gotten to overtime if not for a goal from Emily Bennett with one second left in regulation to tie it at 6-6.
Samuel finished the game with two goals on five shots. Emily Bennett led No. 16 San Diego State with three goals on eight shots and Karli Canale and Laurene Padilla each scored once. Samantha Loughlin had a game-high three assists with Maddie Higginson, Jessica Leckich and Padilla tallying an assist each.
Unlike in the previous two games of the weekend series, the Aztecs jumped out to an early lead and was up 2-0, three and a half minutes in. Canale opened the scoring with a successful penalty shot at the 5:20 mark and that was followed by a Bennett goal a minute later.
The Wolverines then scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead, but Bennett tied it up with 1:13 to play in the first on a power play to send the game to the second quarter tied 3-3.
Just over a minute into the second period, with SDSU on a power play, Samuel recorded her first goal of the game to put the Aztecs back in front 4-3. Michigan (7-4) responded with a pair of goals before the half and the teams went to the intermission with San Diego State down 5-4.
In the third, the teams played back and forth with the only score coming at the 1:33 mark. Padilla got it and it tied the game 5-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
Michigan went back in front 6-5 with just over three minutes to go in regulation and seemed headed for its third win in as many games against San Diego State, but Bennett would have something to say about that. She scored with one tick left on the clock to send the game into overtime.
Neither team scored in the first three-minute extra period and it remained tied until the 1:13 mark, when Samuel put San Diego State (1-10) ahead for good.
Goalie Raquel de Pinho (1-2) earned her first major college win with eight saves. Bennett and Canale also contributed to the defense with four steals each.
Michigan got its six goals from six different players and goalie Heidi Ritner (4-3) had 10 saves in the loss.
THE NOTE
The Aztecs’ last five games have all been one-goal affairs, but Sunday’s win was the team’s first in that run and in the season.
Michigan 3-2-0-1-0-0 -6
San Diego State 3-1-1-1-0-1 -7
Michigan Goals: Alsemgeest (1), Barone (1), Ciruli (1), Neustrom (1), O’Reilly (1), Ritner (1)
San Diego State Goals: Bennett (3), Samuel (2), Canale (1), Padilla (1)
Michigan Saves: Ritner (10)
San Diego State Saves: de Pinho (8)
UP NEXT:
San Diego State opens Golden Coast Conference play in its next two games. On Friday, the team is at Santa Clara at 4 p.m. and on Saturday will play at Pacific at 12 p.m. Then on Sunday the road trip wraps up with a non-conference game at Stanford at 12 p.m.
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