LAS VEGAS – Harlowe Steele and Morgan Taylor each netted a hat trick on Friday to lead the San Diego State lacrosse team to a 13-8 victory over Oregon in its 2019 season opener on a neutral field at Canyon Spring High School.
Taylor Sullivan and Caitlin Jones also got into the act with a pair of strikes apiece, as the Aztecs outscored the Ducks 9-2 in the second half to win going away on a cold and blustery evening in the Silver State.
Despite a 14-9 deficiency in draw controls, SDSU maintained a hefty 28-16 advantage in shots on goal and capitalized on their free position opportunities, converting five of nine chances, while Oregon came up empty on its two attempts. The Aztecs also collected more ground balls (20-15) and committed fewer turnovers (29-16), as the Ducks self-destructed with 16 miscues in the second half alone.
In addition to her goal production, Steele dished out two assists to go with a team-high four draw controls, while Sullivan picked up a career-best five ground balls. Taylor contributed on defense as well, recording four ground balls of her own, while Elizabeth Adams scooped up three.
The game was scoreless until the 10th minute of the first half when the Scarlet and Black cashed in on a man-up situation, as Grace McGinty found the back of the net on free position shot. However, Oregon (1-1) responded with three straight goals, including two straight by Shannon Williams and another by Jamie Level at the 16:33 mark.
Moments later, Taylor and Sullivan leveled the contest with back-to-back markers just over two minutes apart, with the latter notched on a free position attempt.
Oregon seemed poised to pull away, scoring three straight goals once again over a nearly two-minutes span, with Carlie Leach twice hitting pay dirt, followed by another tally from Williams.
The Aztecs kept the Ducks off the scoreboard for the final eight-plus minutes of the period, while Jill Haight broke through with her first goal of the game, which narrowed the gap to 6-4.
With five minutes gone by after the break, the pendulum started to sway in SDSU's favor, as Steele struck for the first time of the night, while Lexi Tan buried a free-position shot shortly thereafter.
The Ducks momentarily took their last lead of the game at 7-6 when Williams scored her game-high fourth goal with 18:56 left.
However, Oregon tickled the twine just once more on another Leach tally at the 15-minute mark, which interrupted a seven-goal Aztec blitz. Steele, Taylor and Jones fueled the run with two markers each, while Sullivan closed out the scoring with 22 ticks remaining on the clock.
SDSU goalkeeper Katy Sharretts finished with eight saves on the night, while her Ducks counterpart Rachel Hall had 15 stops in the loss.
Level led all players with seven draw controls, while Madeline Reece totaled four ground balls and three draws.
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"This was a great win for us," said Aztec head coach Kylee White. "I think we played a solid 60 minutes even though we trailed at the half. They had some really nice goals and attacked quickly, and we were just having some trouble finishing our shots. At halftime we recognized the small adjustments we needed to make at both ends of the field and just went out and took care of business. I was so proud of how well our team played tonight; it was fun to watch them make plays and cheer each other on."
UP NEXT
San Diego State closes out its weekend stay in Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 17, when it battles California at 2 p.m. PT on the campus of Canyon Springs High. The Golden Bears dropped a narrow 15-14 decision to Fresno State here on Friday.
Strong Second Half Propels Lacrosse Past Oregon
