IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine trailed at the half, but came on strong in the final two quarters with the help of a six-goal performance from sophomore McKenna Mitchell to stop the upset-minded Aztecs of San Diego State, 13-6, Sunday afternoon at Anteater Aquatics Complex.
Play was slow at the start with just one goal in the opening frame, an Annika Bergesen power play tally 4:06 into the match.
UC Irvine (13-6) went up 3-0 before San Diego State (8-6, 1-0) rallied to score five goals in a five-minute span culminated by a penalty shot conversion from Ioli Benekou with 12 seconds to go in the half giving the 17th-ranked Aztecs the 5-4 advantage.
The 'Eaters would turn up the offense to regain the lead in the first couple minutes of the second half with goals from Hannah Croghan and Danielle Warde and never look back going on a run of eight straight goals.
Mitchell, whose first goal came late in the first half, scored twice late in the third and added three more in the fourth quarter alone becoming the six Anteater to score six in a match joining current 'Eaters Hannah Croghan and Jessy Cardey as well as Erica Horman's seven-goal match back in 2002.
Among other things, Mitchell earned a pair of exclusions on the afternoon to lead UCI. Danielle Warde scored twice and added three assists and steals. Cambria Shockley came on late for a pair of assists to go with a field block, steal, and exclusion earned.
In net, Jillian Yocum stopped seven shots while stealing a pair of passes and assisting on Danielle Warde's eventual go-ahead goal.
Rachel Mitchell played very well in net for the Aztecs stopping 10 shots. Nikole Ferrari led SDSU in scoring with three goals. Benekou added a goal to the penalty conversion.
UCI will head to Pomona next Saturday for a pair of matches in the Convergence Tournament, Mar. 8. The host Pomona-Pitzer leads off at 11:40 a.m. followed by Cal Lutheran at 5:00 p.m.
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F
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SDSU
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UCI
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13
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UCI goals: McKenna Mitchell (6), Danielle Warde (2), Hannah Croghan (2), Mackenzie Milham, Annika Bergesen, Hillary Estrada
SDSU goals: Nikole Ferrari (3), Ioli Benekou (2), Carina Carballo
Saves: Jillian Yocum (UCI) – 7; Rachel Mitchell (SDSU) – 10
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