NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Marissa Wyan (Jr., Merced, Calif.) scored four times, including a pair in the decisive fourth quarter, as Southwest Division Champion/No. 5-ranked San Diego State University knocked off Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 1 California Polytechnic State University, 9-8, in the 2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Third Place game.
- Competing at the University of Notre Dame’s Rolfs Aquatics Center, the Aztecs rallied back from a 5-4 halftime deficit to stun the seven-time National Champion (2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), five-time runner-up (2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2018) and 16-time Pacific Coast Division victor (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019) Mustangs.
- The loss is historic for Cal Poly as the team finished in only three places in its prior 13 National Championship appearances – First, Second and Third (2012) – as the reigning Pacific Coast Division Champion notches its inaugural Fourth Place mark courtesy San Diego State’s win.
- SDSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Cal Poly in the dawning moments of the first quarter as Colleen Boensel (Sr., Salinas Calif.) and Wyan hit the back of the cage at 4:37 and 3:35, respectively, to sandwich a missed five-meter penalty shot by the Mustangs at 4:12 to provide the Aztecs with a 2-0 margin.
- Cal Poly eradicated its deficit in short order as Maddie David (So., Pleasanton, Calif.) and Emily Milton (So., Reedley, Calif.) lined in shots at 3:12 and 2:56 to knot the score at two-all after seven-minutes of action.
- San Diego State reacquired the lead 61 seconds into the second quarter as Boensel converted on a five-meter penalty shot, but the Mustangs ran wild as Gabi Fabri (Sr., West Sacramento, Calif.) and Milton managed even-strength strikes at 5:39 and 4:36, respectively, before Fabri finished a five-meter penalty shot at 1:58 to push Cal Poly head 5-3.
- Erin Fink (Gr., San Diego, Calif.) chipped SDSU’s deficit down to a single goal prior to halftime as she converted a man-up chance at 1:06 to inch the Aztecs within 5-4.
- Fink’s marker would prove to be the ignition point to San Diego State’s victory as she buried another power-play opportunity with 5:38 to go in the third quarter to knot the score at five-all. Wyan (3:20, even-strength) and Julia Valdez (Fr., Rialto, Calif.) (2:05, man-up) followed to push the Aztecs back in front at 7-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
- The lead would not hold-up, however, as Sanham Ghazvini (Jr., San Jose, Calif.) and David deposited man-up (5:06) and natural (4:19) tallies to once again deadlock the squads at seven-all with the spectre of overtime hanging over the contest.
- The teams traded scoring shots as Wyan (3:19) and Milton (1:48) built an 8-7 lead for SDSU and then razed it to square the squads at eight-all with under two minutes left in regulation.
- However, Wyan and Jennafer Schoonover (Jr, Fairfield, Calif.) combined to allow San Diego State to claim the win as the first punched in a strike with 32 seconds on the clock and the second stymied the Mustangs in the waning seconds to permit the Aztecs to escape with a 9-8 victory.
- Wyan (four), Fink (two) and Boensel (two) all netted multi-goal games for San Diego State with Valdez tacking on a solo score. Schoonover took the win with seven saves, including a trio in the fourth quarter.
- Milton and Fabri both posted hat-tricks with three goals for Cal Poly to go along with a pair by David. Goalie Sammi Tovani (Jr., Danville, Calif.) stopped two shots in taking the defeat.
- It marks the second time San Diego State has finished in Third Place at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship following previous First (2014), Third (2017), Fourth (2015) and Fifth (2012, 2016) Place final positions.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| San Diego State University | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | 9 |
| Cal Poly State University | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | 8 |
| Cal Poly Goals: | Emily Milton (3); Gabi Fabri (3); Maddie David (2) | |||||
| SDSU Goals: | Marissa Wyan (4); Erin Fink (2); Colleen Boensel (2); Julia Valdez | |||||
| Saves: | Cal Poly – Sammi Tovani (2) ; SDSU – Jennafer Schoonover (7) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Cal Poly – 8 ; SDSU – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Cal Poly – 2-for-9 ; SDSU – 4-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Cal Poly – 4-for-4 ; SDSU – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Chad Packer; Tim Watson | |||||
San Diego State University’s Colleen Boensel (#6) defends against California Polytechnic State University’s Hannah Vaughn-Hulbert (#20)
San Diego State University’s Marissa Wyan (#9) moves in on California Polytechnic State University’s Carley Scholz (#12)
California Polytechnic State University goalie Sammi Tovani (#1)
San Diego State University’s Erin Fink (#4) shoots over a charging Emily Milton (#11) from California Polytechnic State University
