April 24, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
The San Diego State lacrosse team fought to the very end, displaying grit in a 16-10 loss to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) foe No. 12/8 Stanford on Sunday afternoon in the Aztecs' season finale.
San Diego State finishes the season with a 4-11 overall mark, going 3-6 in MPSF play. The Cardinal will advance to the MPSF Tournament which begins next weekend with a 13-3 overall mark and an 8-1 record against conference opponents.
"I'm very proud of how our entire team played today," head coach Kylee White said. "We played one of our more disciplined games and it was a more unified performance. We could have not given it our all in this game but I thought we came out with a will to want to win this game."
After Stanford got on the board 1:39 into the game, Kristen Hickey took it upon herself to keep the Aztecs in the game. The junior scored two goals in 4:15 to give SDSU a 2-1 lead with 23:22 remaining in the first half.
"Kristen is so talented and is a feisty, gritty player," White said. "Today was her day for sure."
However, the Cardinal would go on a 7-0 run to take an 8-2 lead with eight minutes to go in the half.
But Hickey again showed offensive prowess and completed the hat trick with just over seven minutes on the clock for the 8-3 score.
Maggie Nick's free position shot at 6:03 remaining was matched by Ijeoma Ikpe's second tally in as many games with 1:38 to go. With only nine ticks on the clock, Kelly Myers' free position goal gave Stanford a 10-4 lead heading into halftime.
Mackenzie Tesei opened second half scoring for the Cardinal 1:51 into the frame.
Down 11-4, markers by Vickie Porter, Katie Gill and Mackenzie Lech would go unanswered, allowing the Scarlet and Black to cut the Stanford lead to 11-7.
The teams would trade goals, with Ikpe recording her first multi-goal game of the season and Hickey notching her fourth 10:15 into the second half.
Anna Salemo and Tesei's goals for Stanford gave the Cardinal a 15-9 lead as 6:23 read on the clock.
Hickey's fifth of the game cut the Stanford lead to five, and Salemo's fourth of the contest closed out scoring for the final 16-10 score.
Hickey's performance was one for the record books, as she scored five goals to lead both clubs and tie for the fifth best offensive output in program history. She led the Aztecs with six shots and tied for the team lead with four ground balls. Felice Artuso earned four draw controls and caused three turnovers in the final game of her collegiate career.
Katie Merritt (2-9) made six saves on 24 first half shots, while Katrina Reeves stopped four shots in the second half.
Stanford out-shot San Diego State, 38-19, with the Aztecs holding the Cardinal to 14 second half shots. SDSU narrowly edged Stanford in the ground ball battle, 18-17, while the Cardinal won at the draw, 18-10.
The contest was the final game for the Aztecs' eight seniors, including Felice Artuso, Anna Cholewczynski, Alexa Comfort, Lauren Gierke, Katie Gill, Andrea Killebrew, Jacqueline Leibrandt and Nicole Lescano.