March 1, 2016
SAN DIEGO - A slow start by the San Diego State lacrosse team against Michigan could not be overcome and yielded a 10-6 loss to the Wolverines at Aztec Lacrosse Field on Tuesday night.
SDSU drops to 1-3 while Michigan moves to 4-2.
"We kept getting caught in the midfield transition," head coach Kylee White said. "Individually, we should've been capitalizing more on some mismatches and we didn't figure that out until later on."
Michigan's offense got off to a fast start when Anna Schueler scored her first of three goals on the night just 35 seconds into the game. Tess Korten and Schueler's second goal gave the Wolverines a 3-0 lead just under nine minutes into the contest.
But just 17 seconds after Michigan's third tally, SDSU responded with a marker of its own. Kristen Hickey raced into the Wolverines' end off of the draw and scored the 3-1 goal from the front of the cage.
With just under 11 minutes remaining in the half, Michigan scored a pair of unanswered tallies just over one minute apart. But Hickey continued her offensive prowess and helped keep the Scarlet and Black in the contest. At 8:59, she drove the cage and cashed in on her second of the night and the 5-2 goal.
Michigan would add two more before the end of the half for a 7-2 lead heading into the intermission.
In the second half, SDSU found a rhythm, out-scoring the Wolverines 4-3, but was unable to match Michigan's strong first half. Said White of the second half, "We changed up some personnel and had some people that were fearless. They weren't afraid to go in there and get roughed up a little bit."
Four-and-a-half minutes into the second half, Michigan took an 8-2 lead, but the Aztecs proceeded to shut down the Wolverines in transition and Michigan recorded nine turnovers in a 17-and-a-half-minute span. The run was capped off by Hickey's free position goal, which completed the junior's hat trick and made the score 8-3.
Korten's goal with 4:42 remaining in regulation allowed the Wolverines to take a 9-3 lead, but freshman Natalie Peel responded in kind. Twenty-seven seconds after the Korten goal, she beat her defender and threw the 9-4 score into the upper left corner of the cage.
After Michigan scored its 10th goal of the game with 2:19 to go, Peel rounded out her first career multi-goal game 14 seconds later. Felice Artuso raced down the far sideline and served the ball to Peel, who deposited the ball into the right side of the cage.
A free position shot by Sarah Dorl saw the junior shovel the ball into the cage from four yards out for the final 10-6 score.
In the cage, starter Katie Merritt suffered the loss, making eight saves on 18 shots. Katrina Reeves, who played in the second half, made three saves on nine shots.
San Diego State was out-shot by Michigan, 27-22. Alexa Comfort and Hickey each led the Aztecs with four shots a piece, while Comfort caused a team-high two turnovers. Jill Haight scooped up four ground balls to lead SDSU, who collected 15 ground balls to Michigan's 20 ground balls. The Wolverines won 12 draw controls as compared to San Diego State's six wins on the draw.
"We're still figuring out our team with so many new people and new people stepping in to new roles," White said. "This was a good show of what we need to do to compete for an entire 60 minutes and get those results we need at the end of the game."
San Diego State continues a three game homestand when it hosts Furman on Thurs., March 10 at noon.