Feb. 22, 2015
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After a strong start in the first half, the San Diego State women's lacrosse team was doomed by a sluggish second half in a road loss at Jacksonville, 18-11, on Sunday afternoon at D.B. Milne Field.
The Aztecs went into halftime trailing by just one point, 7-6, as sophomore Alex Watson scored all three of her goals in the first half. Watson's final goal of the half put SDSU ahead, 6-4, with 12:29 left before intermission, but Jacksonville went on an 8-0 run which spilled into the second half to take control of the contest.
"We had a great start and we were really excited about the second half, but we came out flat," SDSU head coach Kylee White said. "You can't give a team a lead at this level and expect to fight back."
Senior attack Lauren Maack also recorded three goals with an assist for San Diego State (0-2), while senior attack Michaela Jarvis scored two goals and junior midfielder Alexa Comfort finished with a goal and two assists. Senior midfielder Christina Ricciardulli had a goal and three draw controls, senior midfielder Grace Korandovich tallied two assists and senior defender Lauren Paul scooped up four ground balls.
The two teams played nearly even in several categories, as Jacksonville (3-1) finished the contest with a slight edge in draw controls (17-14) and groundballs (32-28). However, 24 total turnovers by SDSU, played a big role in the Aztecs being outshot for the game, 40-23.
"We kept throwing the ball away," White said. "We had too many unforced errors, and we have to clean up those things if we want to compete in conference play."
Early goals from junior Felice Artuso and Comfort knotted the score, 2-2, early on, and Jarvis' score off an assist from Korandovich gave the Aztecs their first lead of the day, 3-2. Later, sophomore Kristen Hickey's pass to Watson for her first score put San Diego State on top, 4-2, with 21:04 remaining in the first half. Watson found the net again later in the half off a pass from senior Falon Manns to break a 4-4 tie, and the sophomore's unassisted goal just over a minute later put SDSU in front by two, 6-4.
Jacksonville sophomore Danielle Della Rocca finished with five goals and two assists, while both sophomore Rachel Aus and junior Kelsey Wiglesworth added three scores.
SDSU returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 28, as the Aztecs begin Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play on the road against Oregon, beginning at noon PT.