April 22, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
Despite out-shooting Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) foe UC Davis, 25-17, a free position goal for the Aggies in overtime led to a 7-6 loss for San Diego State lacrosse on Friday night.
The Aztecs move to 3-5 against MPSF opponents, and are now 4-10 overall. UC Davis is now 5-3 in conference play, maintaining a 7-6 mark this season.
Just 45 seconds into the first overtime period with the score knotted at 6-6, Kristen Hickey was called for a penalty in the Aggies' attacking third, forcing the Aztecs to go on the man down. With a minute and a half to go in the frame, Ijeoma Ikpe was whistled for a foul and Taylor Cuenin made good on free position shot for the 7-6 game winner.
"I knew that it was going to be a close game no matter what because UC Davis is a tough opponent," head coach Kylee White said. "I felt like we were in control but we were not finishing our shots. UC Davis is fueled by momentum and energy, and they had a good game plan by slowing down the game. I think that took away our momentum because we are a fast team."
The low scoring affair was spearheaded by the Aztecs' seniors. After the Aggies took a 1-0 lead just 1:31 into the contest, Felice Artuso's 10th of the year tied the score at 4:25. Just 17 seconds later, she dished a helper to Alexa Comfort for a 2-1 advantage, which the duo mimicked with 22:14 remaining in the frame for the 3-1 lead.
But UC Davis was able to tie the game at 3-3 with a tally scored with just under 14 minutes to go and a marker with 59 seconds to go before halftime.
However, with three seconds on the clock, redshirt senior Katie Gill cashed in during a scramble in front of the Aggies' net to hand the Scarlet and Black a 4-3 lead. At the intermission, SDSU held a 16-10 shot advantage and a 5-3 advantage at the draw.
The second half saw a slew of fouls called against the Aztecs, with fouls being issued to San Diego State, 11-4, in the second half, and the shot advantage for SDSU decreased to 9-6 in the frame.
Just over six minutes into the period, Shannon Cross's second of the game tied the score at 4-4. Kayla Deitz secured a free position goal, her second tally of the season, to regain SDSU's lead at 5-4 with 16:34 to go.
Cuenin responded three minutes later for the 5-5 marker and a little over six minutes after that, Ikpe made the score 6-5 in the Aztecs' favor.
Ellie Delich's tally sent the game to overtime, though, with just under four minutes remaining in regulation.
Artuso (one goal, two assists) and Comfort (two goals, three assists) each tallied three points. Artuso led the team with six shots and Comfort caused a team-high two turnovers, alongside Vickie Porter. Ikpe earned an SDSU-best three draw controls.
Katrina Reeves (2-2) suffered her second loss of the season, making a pair of saves in the final 31:42 of the contest. Katie Merritt opened the game with a three-save first half.
The teams tied with 15 ground balls a piece, and the Aztecs edged the Aggies on the draw, 9-6.
San Diego State closes out its season with a noon game against No. 12/8 Stanford on Sun., April 24. The Aztecs' eight seniors will be honored prior to the contest. "We would love to give our seniors the best showing possible," White said. "This loss against UC Davis will sting, but we want to finish out our season on a high note. We have nothing to lose so that's our mindset going in to Sunday's game."