The 49er women’s water polo team (3-6) had its hands full with No. 10 San Diego State (9-2), falling 8-5.
Junior driver Lauren Sieprath led the 49er scoring with a team high two goals, while goalie Kristen Stragier had a total of six saves. The Aztecs had three players with two goals each, while goalie Kelly Campoli had nine saves.
Sieprath put a series of moves on her defender and ultimately scored for the ‘Niners to cut the deficit to 7-4 and netted the game’s final goal at the 2-minute mark as the game ended with the Aztecs victorious.
SDSU’s Sarah Brady and Ashley Novak each scored a goal to open up the fourth period, putting the Aztecs ahead, 7-3. A tough Aztec defense made LBSU’s hope of coming back near impossible.
“We made a couple of mental errors,” LBSU head coach Gavin Arroyo said. “SDSU is going to make you pay for it. We made progress, but we made rookie mistakes and they made us pay for it.”
The ‘Niners opened up the third period aggressively with back-to-back goals from freshman Claire Martin and junior Meaghan Leonard to cut the deficit to 4-3. LBSU kept attacking the Aztecs’ defense, but Campoli was a wall preventing the 49ers from scoring the rest of the period.
SDSU’s junior Jenna Natalizio scored in the 2-minute mark to end the period with the Aztecs ahead 5-3.
The ‘Niners had their share of opportunities to score in the first half, but could not capitalize.
The second period featured a battle between goaltenders as Campoli deflected four shots and Stragier saved three goals before Novak put the Aztecs ahead, 3-0.
Nothing seemed to get past Campoli until LBSU senior Branwyn Lee scored to cut the deficit to 3-1. SDSU’s Alex Ford scored on a penalty shot to end the half with SDSU leading LBSU 4-1.
SDSU held a 2-0 lead after one period thanks to two Meaghan Poland goals.
Though the game did not go in favor for the 49ers, Stragier’s performance after the first period prevented the Aztecs from putting the game away and kept LBSU in the game.
“We’re asking a lot from [Stragier],” Arroyo said. “She should do that more and for every other game.”
Stragier noted that it was not just defense that kept LBSU in the game.
“Our offense did really well,” said Stragier. “We made shifts through their defense and found openings. We have work to do, but I think we’ll beat [SDSU] next time.”
The ‘Niners are off until they head to the UC Irvine Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 27.