April 13, 2014
BOULDER, Colo. - The San Diego State women's lacrosse team came up just short in another close Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) game on this weekend's road trip to the Rocky Mountains, falling to Colorado, 7-6, in two overtimes on a cold, snowy Sunday at Kittredge Field.
Junior Christina Ricciardulli scored with just 55 seconds remaining in regulation to knot the score, 6-6, and send the Aztecs into overtime for the second time this season. After both teams went scoreless in each of the first two three-minute overtime periods, Colorado's Sarah Lautman scored four minutes into the six-minute sudden-death overtime period to win it for the Buffaloes.
Ricciardulli had her second-consecutive strong performance in two games this weekend, finishing with two goals, an assist, four groundballs, two draw controls and a caused turnover on Sunday. Junior Michaela Jarvis recorded two goals with an assist, junior Bailey Ewing had a goal and an assist, and sophomore Katie Gill also scored a goal.
Junior Lauren Paul tallied two caused turnovers, two groundballs and a draw control, while freshman Vickie Porter scooped up three groundballs. In addition, freshman goalkeeper Katrina Reeves had four saves.
Sunday was the lowest scoring game SDSU (6-7, 3-3 MPSF) played in all season, as the Aztecs took an early 2-0 lead on consecutive goals from Jarvis. San Diego State led going into halftime, 4-2, as Ricciardulli scored with just 41 seconds remaining in the first half.
After Ewing's goal put the Aztecs ahead by two with 22:03 left to play, Colorado scored three-straight goals to take its first lead of the game, 6-5, with 3:37 remaining. That's when Ricciardulli came up big with her goal at the end of regulation to give San Diego State new life.
SDSU outshot the Buffaloes 24-13, and was nearly even in groundballs, as Colorado held a slim 19-18 advantage. While the Aztecs were very efficient in clear opportunities, going 12-for-14, the Buffaloes' had a 12-6 edge in draws.
"We're starting to play with a little more consistency and energy," said head coach Kylee White. "I like the direction we're heading going into to our last games. Even though it was two losses this weekend, the way we've played is better lacrosse than we've played all season."
San Diego State returns home for a three-game homestand to finish the regular season, starting with Friday's showdown against defending MPSF champion No. 12/9 Stanford on Friday, April 18 beginning at 2 p.m. PT at Aztec Lacrosse Field.