Feb. 18, 2015
SAN DIEGO -
Game Week Reset
San Diego State (0-0) at No. 4/4 Florida (2-1)
Friday, Feb. 20 | 6:30 p.m. ET | Donald R. Dizney Stadium | Gainesville, Fla.
San Diego State (0-0) at Jacksonville (1-1)
Sunday, Feb. 22 | 1 p.m. ET | D.B. Milne Field | Jacksonville, Fla.
Aztec Story Lines
- The San Diego State women's lacrosse team begins its 2015 season on the road this weekend, as the Aztecs head east to face No. 4 Florida on Friday, Feb. 20, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET, before taking on Jacksonville on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. ET. Friday's contest at Florida will be streamed live and Sunday's game against Jacksonville will be shown live on ESPN3. Live stats for both games will also be available on GoAztecs.com.
- The Aztecs are a senior-laden team in 2015, with a roster featuring nine seniors, four redshirt juniors and a total of 13 players who started at least five games in 2014. San Diego State was picked to finish sixth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), one year after finishing sixth and earning its first-ever postseason berth in the MPSF quarterfinals. SDSU set several new program records along the way, including most conference victories (4), most road victories (4) and most conference player of the week honors (6).
- Senior midfielder Christina Ricciardulli (Poway, Calif.), senior attack Michaela Jarvis (Annapolis, Md.) and senior defender Lauren Paul (Grasonville, Md.) were each all-MPSF second-team selections in 2014. Ricciardulli led the team in draw controls (54) and caused turnovers (20), while finishing second on the team in goals (28) and third in points (32). Jarvis had team-highs in both points (39) and assists (20), while Paul ranked second on the team in caused turnovers (17) and third in groundballs (27).
- SDSU senior attack Lauren Maack (Coronado, Calif.) tallied 27 points on 19 goals and eight assists a season ago, while junior midfielder Felice Artuso (Westminster, Md.) had 22 points on 19 goals with three assists, in addition to ranking second on the team with 29 groundballs and 29 draw controls.
- Aztec senior midfielder Grace Korandovich (Columbus, Ohio) missed two games due to injury, in 2014, but still finished second on the team with 32 draw controls. In addition, sophomore goalkeeper Katrina Reeves (Granite Bay, Calif.) recorded 101 saves in the net as a freshman, then led the Spanish National Team to a second-place finish in January's Budapest New Year's Cup, where she was named team MVP.
- On Sunday, Feb. 15, the Aztecs defeated Western Ontario, 21-2, in an exhibition contest at Aztec Lacrosse Field. Sophomore midfielder Alex Watson (Davidsonville, Md./La Salle) led the team with three goals and four caused turnovers in her first action in an Aztecs uniform, while sophomore midfielder Vickie Porter (Poway, Calif.) recorded two goals, an assist and five draw controls.
- San Diego State finished the 2014 regular season ranked 29th in the nation and fourth in MPSF in scoring offense, averaging 12.13 goals per game, while it also tied for 22nd in the country and third in the MPSF with 13.25 draw controls per game. In addition, the Aztecs were 42nd in the country with 247 total points, and were 40th in the nation with 8.63 caused turnovers per game.
- The Aztecs ended the season with a 6-1 record when leading at halftime, compared to an 0-8 mark when trailing at intermission and a 1-1 record when tied. Another key stat for the Aztecs is they were 6-3 when outshooting opponents last season, but 1-7 when they were outshot. SDSU was also 4-3 in games following a victory, and when they had the edge in groundballs.
- SDSU was 7-3 when scoring at least 10 goals in 2014, and a perfect 5-0 when scoring 15 or more goals. The Aztecs were 3-0 in night games last season starting after 5 p.m. local time.
Opponent Notebook No. 4/4 Florida
The Gators are 2-1 this season following a decisive victory over Michigan, 21-0, on Feb. 14. Sophomore attack Sammi Burgess scored three goals with two assists in the win, which was Florida's second shutout in program history. Sophomore defender Caroline Fitzgerald was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week following the shutout. Senior Shannon Gilroy was an IWLCA First Team All-American last season, leading the nation with 86 goals in 2014, and senior Nora Barry was a third-team selection. The Gators return 10 starters from last season's team that reached the NCAA quarterfinals and won the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) regular season and tournament titles. Florida is coached by Amanda O'Leary, who has led the Gators to four NCAA Tournament appearances through her first five seasons as head coach. She was previously the head coach at Yale, and played collegiately in both lacrosse and field hockey at Temple. SDSU head coach Kylee White on playing at Florida: "Just have confidence. Florida is a fast, athletic team, which are the same characteristics of our team. Discipline and defense are going to be huge."
Jacksonville
The Dolphins are 1-1 this season after dropping their season opener against Florida, 17-8, before bouncing back to defeat Central Connecticut State, 22-4, on Feb. 14. Danielle Dellarocca leads Jacksonville with seven goals and five assists en route to being named Atlantic Sun Player of the Week on Feb. 17. Senior attack Taylor McCord was named the unanimous A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year. Jacksonville has won two-straight Atlantic Sun championships and has made two-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Head coach Mindy McCord is in her sixth season at the helm with a 64-31 all-time record. She played collegiately at Lynchburg College (Va.), where she was a regional All-American. Jacksonville won the only previous meeting between the two teams, defeating the Aztecs, 15-5, in SDSU's 2013 season opener.