Feb. 25, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
Game Week Preview
San Diego State (0-2, 0-0 MPSF) at Saint Joseph's (1-1, 0-0 A-10)
Saturday, February 27 | 3 p.m. ET | Sweeney Field | Philadelphia, Pa.
Coverage via live stats on SJUHawks.com; live stream on A-10 Network
Storylines
- The San Diego State lacrosse team continues its season opening road trip with a game at Saint Joseph's on Sat., Feb. 27. The contest is slated to kick off at 3 p.m. ET. Live stats on GoAztecs.com via SJUHawks.com and a live stream through the A-10 Network ($) are available for the game.
- The Scarlet and Black opened their season in North Carolina last weekend, starting 2016 with a 0-2 mark after losses to Elon and No. 2/2 North Carolina. In the season opener, three Aztecs posted multi-point game as SDSU led the Phoenix 5-3 midway through the first half. But Elon went on an 8-2 run to win the game 11-7. Against the No. 2/2 Tar Heels, San Diego State held UNC to just a pair of goals in the final fourth of the game, but it was too little, too late as the Aztecs fell, 20-7.
- Early in the season, Kristen Hickey has led the Aztecs' offensive force. The junior midfielder has scored three goals and dished out a trio of assists. Her trio of goals matches her output from last season, and the three assists surpasses her career high.
- 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 in 2015.
- 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. 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.
- Kylee 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
Saint Joseph's
The Hawks opened the season with a 15-12 loss to American before rebounding with a 13-10 win over Monmouth on Wednesday, due in part to Maggie Egan's career-high eight-point performance against the Hawks. Reigning Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week Nora McCallion has averaged six points per game, scoring seven goals in the team's season opener and adding a pair of goals and three assists against Monmouth. Saint Joseph's returns nine starters from a 2015 team that went 5-11, and two of the team's leading scorers from that team, Sarah Smith (24g, 10a) and McCallion (16g, 8a), will look to pace the 2016 Hawks. Head coach Alex Kahoe, who coached SDSU head coach Kylee White and Team Canada at the 2013 IFWLA World Cup, is in her second season at the helm of Saint Joseph's program.