Game Week Preview
San Diego State (0-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. Oregon (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
Friday, Feb. 15 | 7 p.m. PT | Canyon Springs HS | Las Vegas, Nev.
San Diego State (0-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. California (0-2, 0-0 Pac-12)
Sunday, Feb. 17 | 2 p.m. PT | Canyon Springs HS | Las Vegas, Nev.
Aztec Storylines
* The San Diego State lacrosse team opens its eighth season of competition this weekend when it travels to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a pair of neutral-site encounters against Oregon and California on the campus of Canyon Springs High School. The Aztecs will square off against the Ducks on Friday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. PT, before battling the Golden Bears on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. PT. Live stats for both contests will be available on GoAztecs.com.
* SDSU is coming off a 20-6 victory at home over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in its lone exhibition game of the year on Feb. 2. The Aztecs received goals from 12 different players, including four by senior Kirstie Greenlaw and three by sophomore Lexi Tan. Under deteriorating weather conditions, the Scarlet and Black maintained sizeable statistical advantages in shots (42-13), shots on goals (31-10), ground balls (27-9) and draw controls (18-10).
* SDSU celebrated the finest campaign in program history last season after racking up a program record 11 victories, punctuated by its first-ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship. The Aztecs defeated Fresno State 16-6 in the conference tournament semifinals, followed by an 11-10 overtime thriller over UC Davis in the title game, where Morgan Taylor supplied the winning goal with just 23 seconds elapsed in the extra session.
* The Aztecs will field one of their most experienced teams ever this spring thanks to a veteran core of 23 letterwinners, including all six players who scored at least 20 goals during the 2018 campaign. Leading the group are seniors Harlowe Steele and Jill Haight, who became the first duo in program history to record 35 goals or more in the same season, garnering all-MPSF accolades in the process.
* Steele netted a team-high 38 goals, while Haight finished with 37 markers of her own, which rank third and fourth, respectively, on the school's single-season list. In addition, both players were outstanding in the center circle, with Haight winning a school-record 74 draw controls, followed by Steele's 38.
* Also back in the fold are seniors Kirstie Greenlaw (27 goals) and Grace McGinty (25 goals), along with juniors Morgan Taylor (23 goals) and Taylor Sullivan (20 goals). McGinty led the team with 16 free position goals last year and ranked fourth with 46 draw controls, while Sullivan topped the squad with 22 caused turnovers.
* Not to be outdone, Taylor collected Most Valuable Player honors at the MPSF Championships last season after scoring the winning goal in the title game, while Greenlaw was an all-MPSF selection, as were juniors Marissa MacRae and Katy Sharretts.
* Sharretts blossomed in her first season as the Aztecs' starting goalkeeper in 2018, setting a single-season program record with 167 saves and a .459 save percentage to go with a 12.04 goals against average. She also corraled a team-high 31 ground balls and made double-digit saves in nine games, including a career-best 14 on five different occasions.
* As a team, SDSU ranked 14th nationally in 2018 with an average of 15.26 draw controls per game and was 21st with a .468 free position percentage (73-156). Additionally, the Scarlet and Black was 29th in the country with an average of 23.37 shots on goal per game.
* San Diego State is 3-3 all-time in neutral-site games. Ironically, the Aztecs' last neutral-site contest occurred against Oregon in the quarterfinals of the 2017 MPSF Championships in Los Angeles, Calif., where fifth-seeded SDSU recorded the first postseason victory in program history with an 18-13 conquest of the No. 4 seed Ducks. The Aztecs' last played a neutral-site game during the regular season on March 6, 2015, when it defeated Campbell 16-8 in Fresno, Calif. San Diego State will have one additional game on a neutral field later this month when it faces Columbia on Feb. 24 in Tempe, Ariz.
* The Aztecs are 2-5 season openers, including a 12-11 victory over California last year in Berkeley. Harlowe Steele provided the game-winning tally on a free-position strike with 23 seconds remaining after the Bears tied the score at the 2:05 mark. Steele finished with a game-high four goals, while Liz Rourke, Jill Haight and Kirstie Greenlaw notched two apiece.
* SDSU's last three meetings vs. Cal have all been decided by one goal. In addition to last year's result, the Aztecs dropped a 10-9 overtime decision on the road in 2016 before turning the tables in dramatic fashion once again with 14-13 overtime thriller at home in 2017.
* Seniors Harlowe Steele, Shannon Gallagher and redshirt junior Katy Sharretts were named captains for the 2019 season during fall camp. In addition to Steele's and Sharretts' aforementioned accomplishments, Gallagher has started 36 of 37 games at defender over the past two seasons, including all 19 contests as a junior in 2018, when she finished with 21 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers on the year. Additionally, Gallagher recorded multiple ground balls in six different games, matching her career-high with three in an 18-7 road victory over Furman. She also contributed to the Aztecs' winning effort in the MPSF Championship game vs. UC Davis, collecting two ground balls and causing one turnover.
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* The Aztecs once again signed a talented recruiting class for the 2019 season. Highlighting the group are four high school All-Americans, three all-CIF performers, seven all-conference selections, two all-scounty picks and five Player of the Year/Most Valuable Player award recipients. 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.
* Among the new faces is midfielder Cailin Young, a heavily decorated prep player at St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., where she twice earned All-America honors from US Lacrosse in 2017 and 2018. As a senior, Young was named US Lacrosse Orange County Player of the Year and the Orange County Register Lacrosse Athlete of the Year after totaling 64 goals, 113 draw controls and 43 ground balls, leading the Tartans to their first Orange County and CIF Southern Section championships since 2008.
* SDSU will play seven home games this year, including a matchup with former MPSF rival Southern California at Aztec Lacrosse Field in its regular-season home opener on Friday, Feb. 22. In addition, the Scarlet and Black will lock horns with defending national champion James Madison on March 30 in Harrisonburg, Va.
* After a successful run at Aztec Lacrosse Field last season, the 2019 MPSF Championships will be contested on April 26 and 28 at Aggie Stadium in Davis, Calif. For the second year in a row, 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 11 victories and the squad's first-ever MPSF championship 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.
Up Next
- Following this weekend's action, San Diego State returns to the friendly confines of Aztec Lacrosse Field for its regular-season home opener against USC on Friday, Feb. 22. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. PT, with free schedule magnets available for all fans in attendance.
Opponent Notebook
Oregon
The Ducks (1-0) opened their season with a 13-6 victory over Mercer at home on Feb. 9. Senior attacker Shannon Williams led UO with seven points (2g, 5a) in that contest to earn Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. After posting a 9-9 record last year, including a 4-6 mark in conference play, the Ducks were pegged for a fourth-place finish in the Pac-12 preseason poll. Individually, Williams totaled 74 points on 41 goals and 33 assists in 2018, while junior midfielder Lexy Biller, who received preseason All-America honorable mention from Inside Lacrosse set a team record with 114 draw controls. The Aztecs are 4-3 vs. the Ducks all-time. The teams met twice in 2017, with Oregon winning a narrow 11-9 decision in Eugene during the regular season before the Scarlet and Black exacted a measure of revenge with an 18-13 triumph in the MPSF quarterfinals. Head coach Chelsea Gamble is in her first season at the helm of the Ducks program after spending the previous four years as an assistant at Stanford.
California
The Golden Bears (0-2) dropped their first two games of the season at home last weekend, falling to Michigan 15-10 before suffering a 13-4 defeat at the hands of No. 19 Denver. Prior to Sunday's clash, Cal will square off against Fresno State on Friday at 4 p.m. in Las Vegas. Senior Caroline Corzel leads Cal thus far with four goals, while fellow classmate Eliza Christman and junior Susie Ropp have three apiece. Senior Kirsten Swanson was the Bears' top scorer last year with 56 points on 43 goals and 13 assists while Christman netted 39 points of her own on 33 goals and six assists. In addition to Corzel (23g), Cal also welcomes back sophomore attacker Nikki Zaccaro (20 assists, 22 gb) and senior goalkeeper Jenny Wilkens (133 saves, .386 save pct., 13.18 GAA). The Bears were picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 preseason poll. Head coach Brooke Eubanks is in her fifth season on the Berkeley campus.
Lacrosse Set for Season-Opening Weekend in Vegas
