April 27, 2013
SAN DIEGO - Sophomore Sophie Koubek recorded a hat trick with three goals, but it wasn't enough on Saturday night, as the San Diego State Women's Lacrosse team suffered a narrow loss to MPSF foe USC, 12-11, at Aztec Lacrosse Field.
SDSU (8-8, 3-5 MPSF), playing only its second season in program history, finished fifth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings, exactly where it was predicted to finish prior to the start of the season.
Sophomores Bailey Ewing and Michaela Jarvis scored two goals apiece for the Aztecs, who led, 7-5, with 5:46 remaining in the first half after a goal by freshman Alexa Comfort. Junior Christina Ricciardulli finished with five groundballs, four caused turnovers, three draw controls and a goal. Koubek added four draw controls, while sophomores Lauren Maack and Madison Formwalt also added one goal each. In addition, senior goalkeeper Sammy Slattery, playing her final game at Aztec Lacrosse Field, finished with five saves.
Team statistics from both sides were nearly identical on Saturday. USC had a slight advantage in draw controls (13-12) and shots (23-22), but also committed a couple more turnovers than SDSU (12-10). The only big discrepancy came in free-position shots, as USC went a perfect 3-for-3 in those opportunities, while the Aztecs were 0-for-2.
The Aztecs trailed by one point for the final 7:04 of the game, but got one last chance when Ricciardulli caused a turnover with 38 seconds remaining. However, SDSU was never able to get a good shot on goal, and fell short of its first MPSF Tournament appearance.
The score was close throughout the game, as USC built an early lead, 3-1, only to see SDSU tie the score three times before taking its first lead of the night, 6-5, on Ricciardulli's unassisted goal with 8:58 to go in the first half. But USC closed the first half on a 3-0 run to pull back ahead, and scored the first goal of the second half to extend its advantage to 9-7 with 26:15 left. The two teams exchanged goals from that point on, and the Trojans made plays defensively toward the end of the game to maintain possession and run out the clock.
Amanda Johansen and Caroline Cordrey each scored four goals for USC (8-9, 5-3), while Haleigh Dalmass and Caroline de Lyra finished with two goals apiece. Defensively, Kelsey Dreyer recorded four caused turnovers and three groundballs, while Johansen also recovered four groundballs.