FRESNO, Calif. - The No. 6 Fresno State water polo team defeated No. 23 San Diego State 15-7 at the Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon, extending the Bulldogs' home winning streak to 14 consecutive games. The Bulldogs improve to 14-5 on the season and 2-0 in Golden Coast Conference play.
Hailey Andress led the team in scoring with four goals. Brooke Ochoa and Robyn Greenslade added three apiece. Cynthia Rosa, Abbey Simshauser, Ella Simone, Elisa Grim, and Kira Anderson contributed one goal each in the win.
Fresno State held its opponent to 10 or fewer goals for the 18th time this season.
Defensively, Paula Nieto Jasny got the start for the Bulldogs and played 24 minutes. She finished with four saves, including a big penalty shot save in the third quarter. Ida Tully-Giles came in for the fourth quarter and finished out the game with two saves, also grabbing herself one on a penalty shot.
Fresno State totaled 16 steals in the game with three apiece from Brooke Ochoa and Abbey Simshauser.
How it happened
Fresno State got out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter behind goals from Simshauser and Andress. San Diego State scored its first of the game with 6:12 left in the second quarter. Ochoa took over and scored three in-a-row to extend Fresno State's lead to 5-1 with 3:30 left until the halftime break. Ochoa hit Grim for the goal with 1:57 left in the second quarter to round out the first half scoring.
At halftime, Fresno State led 6-1.
The transfers connected for the first Bulldog goal of the third quarter as Simshauser found Greenslade inside for her first goal of the game. The Aztecs responded on their next possession, then Rosa answered right back to put Fresno State ahead 8-2 with 5:48 left in the quarter. The teams battled defensively with steals and saved shots before Andress ended the scoring drought on a heads-up play off the rebound with 2:58 left in the quarter. Shortly after, Greenslade scored again to extend the lead to 10-2.
The final 90 seconds of the quarter saw a third goal by Greenslade and an answer from the Aztecs as Fresno State closed out the period with an 11-3 lead.
With both teams swapping keepers to start the fourth quarter, SDSU finds the back of the net first off of a converted penalty shot. It would score another at the 6:52 mark, then the teams see a drought over the next three minutes before Andress scored two in-a-row, both off the assist by Rosa. The senior continued to contribute to the offense in the final minutes, connecting with Anderson for another goal at the 1:34 mark.
San Diego State scored two more goals in the final 75 seconds, and the Bulldogs broke up that scoring with a goal by Simone.
Notable
Fresno State extended its home winning streak to 14 games.
Fresno State extended its GCC regular season win streak to 19 games.
Fresno State moves to 12-2 when allowing nine or fewer goals to its opponents this season.
Hailey Andress led the team in goals for the 10th time this season.
Andress extended her streak of consecutive games with a goal to 39 games.
Cynthia Rosa had a career-high four assists.
Rosa was 4-0 in sprints on Saturday.
Up Next
Fresno State has its first road test of conference play next Saturday at LMU (20-2, 2-0 GCC). The Lions were picked to finish second in the GCC preseason poll. Fresno State fell earlier this season to LMU, Feb. 2. The Lions are on a 13-game winning streak.