SAN DIEGO - After winning the Harper Cup for the first time in its 13-year history in 2014, the UC San Diego women's water polo team had high hopes of holding onto the trophy Saturday. Unfortunately, a slow start caused the Tritons to suffer a 6-3 loss to No. 18 San Diego State at the Aztec Aquaplex.
Aztec's Anique Hermann was named the Most Valuable Player of the match after scoring two goals on two attempts.
UCSD moves to 16-18 on the season while SDSU improves to 16-14 overall.
The Aztecs opened strong as they held the Tritons scoreless in the first half to take a 4-0 lead. Alyssa Diacono and Caroline Israels scored in the first quarter for SDSU before Ioli Benekou and Carina Carballo added on two more in the second frame.
After Hermann opened up the second half with a goal, Jolene Guiliana scored the Tritons' first goal of the game on an assist from Lani Tittle. But Hermann scored again with 38 seconds left to make it 6-1 at the end of the third quarter.
The Tritons shined in the final period behind two goals from Laurel Kistler and Courtney Miller's impressive performance in the cage. Miller held the Aztecs scoreless to finish the game with six saves.
Despite the comeback effort, UCSD couldn't overcome its slow start and fell 6-3. The Tritons will head to Geneva, Ohio next weekend to compete in the Western Water Polo Association Championship.
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