March 15, 2003

San Diego, Calif. - The San Diego State women's water polo team had the nation's fifth-ranked team on the ropes for three quarters, but California came back with five goals in the final period to down the No. 6 Aztecs, 9-8. SDSU held a 6-4 lead after the third quarter, but the Bears scored five straight goals to open the fourth and then withstood a furious Aztec rally in the final two minutes to gain the win.

San Diego State (9-6 overall/2-3 MPSF) was denied its third straight conference win and narrowly failed to earn its first win over Cal since 1999, now having dropped nine straight to the Golden Bears. California comes back from a loss to No. 3 USC yesterday to improve to 9-5 overall, 2-2 in the MPSF.

After Cal's Allison Gold put the Bears up 1-0, the Aztecs reeled off three straight goals in the first quarter. A pair of goals by junior 2-meter Holly Hartzell sandwiched around a senior utility Casey Finnegan score had SDSU up 3-1 after one.

The Bears came back with goals in the third and tied the score on two occasions, but the Aztecs had an answer each time with goals from Hartzell and freshman driver Rachel Serna to take a 5-4 lead into the half.

The teams buckled down defensively in the third quarter. Both goalkeepers kept the opponent off the scoreboard until one minute, 31 seconds remained, when Aztecs' senior utility Amber Prestegard slipped an outside shot past Cal goalie Lauren Dennis to put SDSU up 6-4.

However, Cal ratcheted up its offensive intensity in the fourth, scoring its five goals in less than a four-minute span. Two goals from Cara Chlebicki wrapped around Gold's third score of the game gave the Bears their first lead since the opening minutes at 7-6, and Brittany Hansen capped the run by converting two outside shots to give Cal a 9-6 lead with 1:56 left.

On SDSU's ensuing possession, Hartzell scored off a nice feed from Prestegard. The Aztecs then forced a steal, and Prestegard converted a Serna pass to bring SDSU within 9-8. Serna then stole the ball back for SDSU and head coach Carin Crawford called a timeout to set up a play for Hartzell, but the junior's shot with seven seconds left hit the bottom of the crossbar and deflected in front of the goal. Dennis secured the floater and Cal ran out the clock.

Aztec goalie Ashley Zabel had a solid game in the cage and tallied seven saves, including several tough deflections. Dennis made nine saves for the Bears.

Redshirt freshman Gold led the squad in scoring for the second consecutive game and now has 13 goals on the year, good for a second place tie for the team lead.

Cal continues its extended road trip to open the 2003 season with an appearance March 21-22 at the Hawaiian Tournament in Honolulu.

No. 5 California 9, No. 6 San Diego State 8 Ray and Joan Kroc Center, San Diego, Calif.

		1	2	3	4	Total
Cal		1	3	0	5	9
SDSU		3	2	1	2	8

Cal Goals: Gold 3, Chlebicki 2, Hansen 2, Howell, Miller Cal Goalie Saves: Dennis 9

SDSU Goals: Hartzell 4, Prestegard 2, Finnegan, Serna SDSU Goalie Saves: Zabel 7