April 14, 2013
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State Lacrosse team had a lead in the second half and was tied with five minutes to play, but couldn't hold on late, as the Aztecs lost to California, 13-11, on Sunday afternoon at Aztec Lacrosse Field.
SDSU (8-5, 3-2 MPSF) rallied from a four-goal deficit in the second half to take the lead, 9-8, on freshman Alexa Comfort's goal with 10:09 remaining. However, Cal (9-4, 6-0 MPSF) went on a 5-2 run the rest of the way to escape with the victory and remain tied with Denver for first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) standings. The Aztecs, meanwhile, drop to fourth place with three games to play.
Sophomore Bailey Ewing scored three goals to lead the Aztecs, while sophomore Lauren Maack and junior Christina Ricciardulli scored two goals apiece. Sophomore Michaela Jarvis finished with a goal and three assists, while junior Isabelle Pickett, freshman Felice Artuso and Comfort also scored. Artuso added five draw controls, and now has 25 in the last four games, while Maack added three.
Senior Melissa Humphrey led Cal with four goals and three assists, while senior Megan Takacs scored a game-high five goals.
The Aztecs had the momentum when Ricciardulli's unassisted goal knotted the score, 8-8, with 12:33 left, and Comfort's goal two minutes later capped off SDSU's 5-0 run and put the Aztecs ahead by one. But things quickly changed.
After a great save by SDSU senior goalkeeper Sammy Slattery, her outlet pass was stolen by Takacs, who quickly shot it into the net to tie the score, 9-9. Gaby Christman followed with a free-position goal to put the Golden Bears in front by one, but the Aztecs responded with Ewing's unassisted score to once again knot the score, 10-10, with 5:49 left to play.
But less than a minute later, Takacs' goal off Humphrey's assist put Cal ahead for good, and the Bears tacked on two more scores to build a three-point lead before Ewings' unassisted goal with 1:36 remaining.
The Aztecs resume MPSF play on Friday, April 19, on the road against UC Davis. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m. PT.