April 2, 2013
SAN DIEGO - Head coach Kylee White leads the San Diego State Lacrosse team against her alma mater Ohio State, on Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. White graduated from OSU in 2002.
The Aztecs (7-3, 2-1 MPSF) are coming off a neutral-site victory over Detroit, 14-6, on Monday at OSU, and have won five of their last six games. Sophomore Bailey Ewing led the way for SDSU with three goals, while sophomore Michaela Jarvis finished with a goal and five assists. Freshman Felice Artuso did a little of everything on Monday, recording a goal, an assist, four groundballs, eight draw controls and two caused turnovers.
SDSU entered Monday's game fifth in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 15 goals per game, and are 17th in scoring defense, allowing only 8.5 goals per game. The Aztecs have the seventh-best scoring margin (6.4), are 22nd in draw controls per game (13.4) and are tied for 24th in winning percentage (0.67). SDSU currently leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) in goals per game, assists per game (7.3) and points per game (22.2), as well as shooting percentage (.514). Defensively, the Aztecs lead the conference in goals-against average (8.3).
Individually for the Aztecs, Jarvis' 4.4 points per game is 17th in the country, and the sophomore is 10th in assists per game (2.8), which is good enough for second in MPSF. Senior goalkeeper Sammy Slattery is 23rd in the nation and second in MPSF in goals-against average (9.08), and 19th nationally (No. 3 in MPSF) in save percentage (0.461). SDSU is No. 4 in the MPSF standings, as the conference's top-four teams advance to the MPSF Championship beginning May, 2, in Eugene, Ore.
Ohio State is 4-6 this season and coming off an overtime home victory against Hofstra, 11-10, on March 30. The win snapped the Buckeyes' three-game losing streak, as OSU has lost five of its last seven. Sophomore Jackie Cifarelli is 15th in the country in assists per game (2.3), while junior Katie Chase is 16th in draw controls (44). As a team, the Buckeyes are tied for 19th in groundballs per game (18.3). OSU is not ranked in the top 20 of the IWLCA Poll this week, but did receive votes.