Feb. 15, 2018
Game Week Preview
Arizona State (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) at San Diego State (1-0, 0-0 MPSF)
Saturday, Feb. 17 | 1 p.m. PT | Aztec Lacrosse Field | San Diego, Calif.
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Aztec Storylines
- Fresh off a dramatic road victory, San Diego State returns to Montezuma Mesa for its home opener on Saturday, Feb. 17, when it takes on Arizona State in a non-conference matchup, beginning at 1 p.m. PT.
- Free posters and schedule magnets will be available to all fans at Aztec Lacrosse Field, while links to live stats and streaming video can be found on GoAztecs.com.
- SDSU launched its 2018 schedule in thrilling fashion last Sunday when it edged former Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) adversary California by a 12-11 count at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.
- Junior Harlowe Steele scored the game-winner on a free-position shot with just 28 seconds left in regulation to help the Aztecs register their first season-opening win since 2014. The SDSU midfielder led all players with a career-high four goals while posting one assist, one ground ball and one draw control.
- For her efforts, Steele garnered MPSF Offensive Player of the Week honors on Feb. 12. The award was the second career weekly conference accolade for the Coquitlam, British Columbia, native in her career after receiving Defensive Player of the Week recognition on April 24, 2017.
- Aztec fortunes vs. the Golden Bears were also buoyed by senior Elizabeth Rourke, junior Jill Haight and fellow classmate Kirstie Greenlaw, who notched two goals apiece, while sophomores Taylor Sullivan and Morgan Taylor finished with one tally each.
- In addition, junior goalkeeper Katy Sharretts tied for fifth on the school's single-game charts with 13 saves in her first collegiate start; senior Mackenzie Lech scooped up a game-high four ground balls, while Haight came through with a team-best three draw controls.
- With the victory, SDSU has now captured three of its last four vs. Cal to raise its record to 4-3 in the all-time series, including a 2-1 mark in Berkeley. The Aztecs' last three encounters with the Golden Bears have each resulted in one-goal decisions, with two overtime finishes, including a tough 10-9 setback in Berkeley during the 2016 campaign, followed by a 14-13 come-from-behind victory last season.
- The Aztecs are 11-10 in one-goal games since the program's inception in 2012. Dating back to last year, the Scarlet and Black has won four straight matches decided by one goal.
- SDSU is 3-3 in home openers all-time. However, the Aztecs have fallen short in their last two lid-lifters on The Mesa, dropping a 10-6 decision to Michigan in 2015, followed by a 15-10 setback to Denver last season. San Diego State is 22-24 at Aztec Lacrosse Field in school history, including a program-high six victories in 2017.
- Despite losing its top five scorers from a year ago, including Kristen Hickey (34 goals), Kayla Deitz (30 goals) and Alex Watson (27 goals) SDSU returns an experienced core of 20 veterans, led by tri-captains Mackenzie Lech, Harlowe Steele and Natalie Peel.
- In addition, the Aztecs once again signed a talented recruiting class for the 2018 season. Highlighting the group are three high school All-Americans, seven all-region/all-county performers, eight all-conference selections, two all-state/all-section picks and one conference player of the year recipient. In addition, the class includes multiple players with a plethora of prep postseason and national tournament experience, while many have displayed their versatile talents in other sports as well.
- One of the freshmen expected to make an immediate impact is midfielder Bailey Brown. A heavily decorated player from Katy, Texas, Brown was named a US Lacrosse All-American in 2016 and was a four-time all-state selection for her Katy Lady Cavaliers High School club team after leading the squad to the Texas state tournament in four straight seasons. She holds 16 program records and is her club's career leader in goals, assists, total points, ground balls, caused turnovers and draw controls.
- Brown made her collegiate debut at Cal last Sunday, posting two draw controls off the bench, while another freshman Julia Sheehan (Glenwood, Md.) was the lone Aztec rookie to start the season opener vs. the Golden Bears, collecting one ground ball.
- SDSU will play seven home games this year, highlighted by a matchup with 2017 national runner-up Boston College at Aztec Lacrosse Field on Saturday, March 10. The action-packed schedule also features dates with three additional NCAA Tournament participants on the road at Colorado (Feb. 25), USC (April 8) and Notre Dame (April 21).
- For the first time in program history, SDSU will play host to the MPSF Championships, slated for April 27 and 29. With the Pac-12 Conference sponsoring the sport of lacrosse this season, five teams (Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, USC) have withdrawn from the MPSF, leaving behind the Aztecs, Fresno State and UC Davis. As a result, the MPSF tournament format will pit the second and third seeds in the semifinal game, with the winner advancing to the championship final against the No. 1 seed.
- The program's only coach after lacrosse became the 19th intercollegiate sport at San Diego State in 2012, Kylee White begins her seventh season at the helm of the Aztecs. She has transformed SDSU's fledgling program to a strong competitor on the West Coast, highlighted by a school-record 10 victories last year. In November 2016, White was inducted into the London (Ontario) Sports Hall of Fame after becoming the only women's lacrosse player to represent Canada in each of the last three decades. In 1995, she played on the inaugural U-19 Canadian National Team and later served as an assistant for the squad in 2007. White also played for Team Canada at four IFWLA World Cups (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013), helping the 2013 team to a silver medal. A four-year letterwinner at Ohio State, White was a four-time Buckeye scholar-athlete pick and an Academic All-Big Ten performer on three occasions. She co-captained the 2002 squad to an 11-5 record and a runner-up finish in the American Lacrosse Conference, helping Ohio State claim its first NCAA berth.
- White also added assistant coach Nikki Boltja to her staff in the offseason. A former star player at Louisville, Boltja spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Stetson University (2017) and Baldwin Wallace University (2016). While at Louisville, Boltja merited IWLCA All-America distinction on two occasions for the Cardinals, earning third-team honors in 2013, before receiving first-team recognition in 2014. A three-time all-region and all-conference selection, Boltja was the unanimous Big East Offensive Player of the Year during her senior campaign in 2014 after leading Louisville to its first NCAA Tournament berth and top 10 national ranking.
Up Next
- Following Saturday's game, San Diego State will head to the front range of the Rocky Mountains to battle former MPSF rivals Denver and Colorado. The Aztecs will face the Pioneers on Friday, Feb. 23, before locking horns with the Buffaloes on Sunday, Feb. 25. Both games are slated to begin at noon MT/11 a.m. PT.
Opponent Notebook
Arizona State
A first-year program, the Sun Devils opened the 2018 campaign with a pair of road victories over Kennesaw State (14-6) and Stetson (15-13)...In the opener vs. the Owls, attacker Kerry Clayton recorded seven goals, while midfielder Maddy Hunter contributed two goals, 10 ground balls and six caused turnovers...Two days later, Clayton picked up right where she left off, notching five additional strikes, while goalkeeper Berkeley Bonneau collected seven ground balls...Bonneau earned both victories in front of the net, combining for 20 saves on the weekend...Arizona State sports four players from Southern California on its roster, including midfielder Kylie Kroeger, who prepped at Mission Bay High School in San Diego...The Sun Devils are coached by Courtney Martinez Connor, a former lacrosse broadcast analyst at ESPN who also served as head coach at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County from 2005-09 after serving a four-year stint at Mount St. Mary's...As a collegiate player, Martinez Connor competed at Maryland from 1997-2001, helping the Terrapins capture five straight NCAA championships.