Feb. 10, 2016
Game Week Preview
San Diego State (0-0, 0-0 MPSF) at Elon (0-0, 0-0 CAA)
Friday, February 12 | 6 p.m. ET | Rhodes Stadium | Elon, N.C.
San Diego State (0-0, 0-0 MPSF) at No. 2/2 North Carolina (1-0, 0-0 ACC)
Sunday, February 14 | 1 p.m. ET | Fetzer Field | Chapel Hill, N.C.
Storylines
- The San Diego State lacrosse team will open the program's fifth campaign this weekend in North Carolina, kicking off 2016 at Elon on Fri., Feb. 12 at 3 p.m. PT and visiting National Champion runner-up No. 2/2 North Carolina on Sun., Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. PT.
- San Diego State was picked to finish fifth of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's (MPSF) 10 teams in 2016, the conference office announced in its annual coaches' poll. The Aztecs' fifth place selection is the highest in program history after SDSU recorded 46 points in the poll. Reigning MPSF champion No. 15 Stanford was selected to repeat in its title quest.
- The Aztecs return upperclassmen Felice Artuso, Alexa Comfort and Vickie Porter, who combined to net over 23 percent of the team's total offense in 2015. Last season, Artuso netted 14 goals and four assists in 16 games started. The senior from Westminster, Md. has scored at least 14 goals each season in the Scarlet and Black. Comfort ranked third on the team with 25 points (20 goals, five assists), netting multiple goals six times. Porter, who tied for third with 20 goals, took 42 shots, also the team's third most.
- SDSU's goaltending tandem of Katie Merritt and Katrina Reeves from a year ago will once again protect the cage in 2016. The duo recorded a 12.50 goals against average and a .375 save percentage en route to San Diego State's 9-8 mark.
- The Aztecs were represented on the international stage this offseason, thanks to Katrina Reeves. The junior from Granite Bay, Calif. played every minute for Spain at the 2015 ELF Women's Lacrosse European Championship, earning a nod to the All-European Team after playing every minute of the tournament, leading all goalies at the 17-team event with 85 saves.
- Head coach Kylee White introduced one of her most decorated incoming classes to date, which features three high school All-Americans, four all-conference or all-league selections, three all-county and all-section or all-group honorees and a pair of all-state players and player of the year selections. The class of 2015 features some of the country's finest athletes, with competitors hailing from one of the most prestigious lacrosse conferences, the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM), New Jersey, Georgia, San Diego, Orange County, Northern California, British Columbia and Colorado.
- The team will look to thrive in one of the Aztecs' toughest regular season schedules to date, which features four reigning NCAA Tournament participants, including National Champion runner-up and preseason No. 2 North Carolina, and seven contests on Aztec Lacrosse Field.
- San Diego State will be led by a trio of captains in Anna Cholewczynski, Andrea Killebrew and Jacqueline Leibrandt. Cholewczynski, a two-time MPSF All-Academic honoree (2014 and 2015), played in 13 contests for the Aztecs last season, picking up three ground balls and causing a turnover. Killebrew started 12-of-15 contests in 2015, scoring six goals and adding nine assists. Leibrandt played in two contests during her redshirt-sophomore season last year, scooping up three ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers.
- Last season was arguably the finest in the program's young history. In 2015, the Aztecs won a program-best nine games and produced a school record seven game winning streak, which included a 4-0 start to MPSF play. Also a school record, nine student-athletes garnered MPSF All-Academic accolades and two captured All-MPSF first team honors (Lauren Paul, Christina Ricciardulli). Additionally, Paul was SDSU's first representative at the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) North-South All-Star Game after setting the program's record with 24 caused turnovers.
- White is in her fifth season at the helm of San Diego State's lacrosse program. The program's only coach after lacrosse became the 19th collegiate sport at SDSU in 2012, she has guided the program to a spot as a top contender in the MPSF, with back-to-back MPSF Tournament appearances highlighting her most recent seasons.
Opponent Notebook
Elon
Elon welcomes San Diego State for its season opener after a 2015 campaign that yielded an 8-8 overall record and a 1-5 mark in conference play, the program's first win in conference play. The Phoenix welcome back their top three point getters including 2015 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Year Stephanie Asher, who led the team with 54 points (44 goals, 10 assists) last season and its starting goalie, Rachel Ramirez, an All-CAA second team honoree after finishing 2015 ranked 12th nationally with 8.94 saves per game. Josh Hexter joins White as the first head coach of a program, which began competition in the spring of 2014.
No. 2/2 North Carolina
The No. 2/2 Tar Heels return nine of their top 11 scorers from a 2015 team that went 18-4 and advanced to the National Championship game. The consensus National Goalie of the Year last year, Caylee Waters will protect the cage for her junior season. She was joined by junior midfielder Maggie Bill on the IWLCA Preseason All-America first team, who is one of six Tar Heels on the U.S. Women's National Team. UNC opened the season with a 11-7 win over James Madison, due in large part to Inside Lacrosse preseason third team all-American Molly Hendrick's four goals and one assist. Prior its game against SDSU, UNC will face High Point on Fri., Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.