TEMPE, Ariz. – In its only foray out of the state of California during the 2026 season, No. 19-ranked San Diego State water polo was stopped twice on Sunday to finish the ASU Invitational with a 2-2 record. In the morning, the Aztecs were downed 15-10 by No. 6 Arizona State and then tripped up 14-13 in the afternoon by No. 18 Marist.

No. 6 Arizona State 15, No. 19 San Diego State 10
With Arizona State outscoring the Aztecs 8-2, the second quarter proved decisive in a 15-10 loss for San Diego State in its opening Sunday game at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.

With a pair of hat tricks, Sydney Gish and Poppy Phillips were San Diego State’s top scorers. Claudia Valdes bent the net twice and Shannon Murphy and Mimi Stoupas contributed a goal each.

Mandy Lagerlof played the opening 16 minutes, made three saves against 11 goals allowed and took the loss. Tiaare Ahovelo played the second half and also made three saves and surrendered four goals.

The Sun Devils got the opening two goals and held the Scarlet and Black (7-5) off the scoreboard until a Valdes strike at the 4:23 mark trimmed the lead by half. ASU got it back to a two-goal differential with a score just 11 seconds later and it remained 3-1 until, with 43 second left, Gish drew San Diego State to within a goal, 3-2, which was the score as the teams headed to what ended up being the decisive second period.

Arizona State scored six unanswered goals in the first seven minutes of the frame to lead 9-2. Valdes halted the run with a goal with 43 seconds to go, but ASU answered 16 seconds later to make it 10-3. Phillips scored on a penalty, with eight seconds remaining, and it looked like it would be 10-4 at the break, but a goal with one second left made it 11-4 at the half.

Coming out of the intermission, the teams traded four goals in the third quarter. Murphy scored 1:01 in to make it 11-5, but the Sun Devils answered at the 3:36 mark. Phillips bent the net with 2:24 on the clock and ASU made it a 13-6 score, heading into the last period, with a goal with 1:22 to go.

The fourth quarter belonged to San Diego State. ASU pushed its lead to 14-6 at 7:18, but Stoupas scored at the 6:43 mark and was followed, with 6:14 to go, by a Gish strike which made it 14-8. Arizona State scored its final goal with 5:03 to play and the final two strikes came from Gish, at 3:49, and Phillips, at 2:57, earned the pair their hat tricks.

Sophie Shorter-Robinson led ASU with four tallies. In goal, Sanne Keijzer made 17 saves and got a goal.

San Diego State: 2-2-2-4 – 10
Arizona State: 3-8-2-2 – 15

San Diego State Goals: Gish (3), Phillips (3), Valdes (2), Murphy (1), Stoupas (1)
Arizona State Goals: Shorter-Robinson (4), Thomas (3), D. Kardos (2), L. Kardos (2), Quin (2), Bouloukbachi (1), Keijzer (1)

San Diego State Saves: Ahovelo (3), Lagerlof (3)
Arizona State Saves: Keijzer (17)

 

No. 18 Marist 14, No. 19 San Diego State 13
The Aztecs were outscored by a goal, 4-3, in the final frame and fell to No. 18 Marist, 14-13, in their final game of the event.

San Diego State’s offense was paced by a season-high matching four goals from Claudia Valdes. Sydney Gish and Mimi Stoupas each scored three times, while Sammi Byers, Ioanna Petiki and Poppy Phillips tallied on goal apiece.

Mandy Lagerlof played the first half, made a pair of saves, but surrendered eight goals. Tiaare Ahovelo was in the cage for the second half, stopped four shots, but let six get by in taking the loss.

Tied 10-10 at the start of the fourth, Marist got two goals, at the 7:00 and 6:10 marks, to forge ahead 12-10. They made it 13-10 with 4:02 to play and then 14-10 at 3:18. SDSU began its comeback getting goals from Byers, with 2:15 left, and Valdes 15 seconds later. Then Petiki struck with 31 ticks on the clock to make it 14-13. Following a Marist timeout with 11 seconds left, Valdes had a crack at tying as time expired but couldn’t bend the net before the final horn blew.

Gish gave SDSU (7-6) a 1-0 lead at the 6:05 mark and Stoupas doubled the advantage with 4:13 left in the period, but Marist got its initial goal 18 seconds later and tied the game with 3:06 on the clock. Valdes made it 3-2 on a goal with 37 seconds to go, but the Red Foxes responded and tied the game 13 seconds before the whistle blew and the teams went to the second quarter tied 3-3.

The second frame belonged to Marist, outscoring the Aztecs 5-2. Gish bent the net at 7:08 and 6:26 to forge a two-tally lead, 5-3, but the rest of the first half belonged to the Red Foxes. They scored five times before the intermission and took an 8-5 lead into the break.

Marist scored the first goal coming out of halftime for a four-goal advantage, 9-5. Valdes answered with 5:35 left and was followed by Stoupas, at 4:47, trimming the lead to 9-7. The Red Foxes got a goal back at 4:28, but SDSU then ripped off three goals in the final 4:09 to send the game to the final quarter knotted up at 10 apiece. Valdes scored on a penalty at 4:09 and Stoupas got the Scarlet and Black within a goal, 10-9, at 3:29. The final tally of the period went to Phillips, with five ticks on the clock, and it was 10-10 after 24 minutes.

Samantha Bentley and Jolanta Szentpali led the Marist attack with a hat trick each. Inez Sanchez played the entire game making 10 saves against 13 goals allowed for the win.

Marist: 3-5-2-4 – 14
San Diego State: 3-2-5-3 – 13

Marist Goals: Bentley (3), Szentpali (3), McCarroll (2), De Beer (1), Kiss (1), Mullane (1), Naegle (1), Peterson (1), Radaelli (1)
San Diego State Goals: Valdes (4), Gish (3), Stoupas (3), Byers (1), Petiki (1), Philips (1)

Marist Saves: Sanchez (10)
San Diego State Saves: Ahovelo (4), Lagerlof (2)