SAN DIEGO -Â The No. 16 UC San Diego women's water polo team fell by a score of 10-8 at No. 17 San Diego State in the annual Harper Cup game Thursday.
The Tritons fell to 10-12 overall and the Aztecs moved to 17-9.
Evelyn Burns and
Abigail Schechter accounted for half of the Tritons' goals, scoring two apiece. Four other players scored once.
Mimi Stoupas led the Aztecs with a hat trick.
UC San Diego came in with nine straight wins in the annual match. The last time San Diego State had won the game was 2015.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tied at 2-2 early in the first quarter, San Diego State rallied for four consecutive goals to take a 6-2 lead at the 5:12 mark of the third period.
The Tritons got back within two at 6-4 when Burns scored at 3:34 of the third. However, the Aztecs answered by putting up three straight goals, two coming on the power play, to move ahead 9-4 with 6:23 left in the fourth.
Later trailing 10-5, UC San Diego scored three straight times.
Cascade Stensland,
Caitlin Stayt, and
Anna Fazioli all found the back of the net, but those goals would prove to be the last of the game.Â
The Tritons held a substantial 28-19 advantage in shots. The Aztecs scored on four of five power play opportunities, while UC San Diego was just two for seven.
San Diego State now holds a 14-10 lead in the all-time series, which began in April of 2002.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego plays its final regular season game Saturday at Big West rival UC Santa Barbara. The Big West Championship is slated for April 10-12 at Long Beach State. UC San Diego will host the 2026 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship April 22-26 at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
