Game Week Preview
San Diego State (8-3, 0-0 MPSF) at No. 10 James Madison (7-3, 0-0 CAA)
Saturday, March 30 | 5 p.m. ET | Sentara Park | Harrisonburg, Va.
Aztec Lacrosse Storylines
* San Diego State looks to snap a two-match losing skid on Saturday when its squares off against 10th-ranked and defending national champion James Madison at Sentara Park in Harrisonburg, Va. Opening draw is set for 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.
* In addition to live stats, GoAztecs.com will provide a link to a live stream of the Aztecs-Dukes matchup, courtesy of the MadiZone HD SportsNet. Curt Dudley will call the play-by-play, with Elena Romesburg providing color commentary. Fans can also catch the action online at www.laxsportsnetwork.com/home.
* After fashioning a six-game winning streak, including a 5-0 homestand, San Diego State opened its lengthy road swing on a sour note last weekend, falling to Cincinnati, 17-11, followed by a 16-10 defeat at Ohio State. The Aztecs were limited to just three first-half goals in both losses and played in pursuit mode the rest of the way. Against the Buckeyes last Sunday, SDSU employed a 5-1 run over a span of 5:29 to pull within 10-9 by the 15-minute mark of the second half. However, Ohio State answered with five straight goals to extinguish the threat.
* Senior Harlowe Steele led the Aztecs with six goals on just nine shots for the weekend, finishing with a .889 shot-on-goal percentage (8-9) while converting 5-of-8 free position attempts. She also combined for eight ground balls and five draw controls in the two games, earning Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Offensive Player of the Week honors.
* In addition, junior Taylor Sullivan contributed seven points on five goals and two assists to go with nine ground balls, four draw controls and three caused turnovers. The Annapolis, Md., native tied a program record with seven ground balls vs. Ohio State while adding three draw controls and two caused turnovers. She also netted her sixth hat trick of the year against the Buckeyes after recording just one last season.
* With her award, Steele gives the Aztecs seven MPSF conference weekly selections this season. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Katy Sharretts garnered two accolades on defense (Feb. 18 and March 11); Caitlin Jones was twice named top rookie (Feb. 25 and March 11), while Sullivan merited defensive recognition on March 18.
* As of March 27, SDSU finds itself among the Division I leaders in shots per game (6th, 35.55), shots on goal per game (8th, 26.82), scoring offense (16th, 14.64 goals/gm) and ground balls (16th, 21.64/gm). Not to be outdone, the Aztecs rank 19th in draw controls with 14.73 per contest.
* Individually, Steele occupies the 10th spot nationally with 1.36 free position goals per game (15 overall), while Sullivan ranks 15th in that category (1.18, 13 overall). In addition, Sharretts is 16th with 105 saves on the year, while junior Morgan Taylor enters the weekend at No. 17 in free position percentage (.636, 7-11).
* Entering the weekend, Sullivan is tied with UC Davis' Taylor Cuenin for the MPSF lead with 30 goals on the year, while Steele ranks third with 28. At their current clip, Sullivan and Steele would easily give SDSU two 40-goal scorers in the same season for the first time in program history.
* Not to be outdone, Steele has climbed into fourth place on the Aztecs' career list with 75 goals, eclipsing Vickie Porter (2014-17) and Michaela Jarvis (2012-14), who finished with 70 tallies apiece in a Scarlet and Black uniform. In addition, Sullivan has tied former goalkeeper Katrina Reeves (2014-17) for fifth place on SDSU's all-time charts with 45 caused turnovers for her career. Elsewhere, Sharretts now ranks second in program history with 274 career saves, trailing only Reeves, who finished with 405 stops.
* The Aztecs will face James Madison for the just the second time on Saturday after suffering a 20-7 road loss in the program's third season on March 29, 2014. SDSU has come up short in two other meetings vs. current members of the Colonial Athletic Association, dropping an 11-7 decision at Elon in 2016, followed by an narrow 11-10 defeat at Delaware in 2018. The Scarlet and Black has yet to play the three remaining CAA affiliates in Hofstra, Drexel and Towson.
* One of the reasons for SDSU's strong start is its scoring offense, which ranks 16th nationally entering the weekend with 14.64 goals per game. The Aztecs have racked up 161 goals on the year, which marks the second-best 11-game stretch to start a season in program history, trailing only the 2018 squad, which posted 169 tallies in the same span. Despite last weekend's losses, San Diego State is still on pace to shatter last year's school record of 256 goals.
* After her four-goal performance at Cincinnati, Steele has scored at least three goals in 14 different games during her career, including six this season. In addition, the Aztec tri-captain has notched at least one tally in 20 of her last 21 starts dating back to last year, with the lone exception in that stretch occurring in the 2018 regular-season finale at Notre Dame.
* Steele has also racked up a team-high 33 draw controls this year, surpassing Grace Korandovich for fourth place on the program's all-time list in that category with 125 draws won for her career. Fellow senior Jill Haight ranks third on the Aztecs' career charts with 127 draw controls, including 16 this season.
* Sullivan's five-goal effort vs. USC on Feb. 22 marked the sixth time an Aztec player has recorded at least five tallies over the past two seasons and the second time this year after Kirstie Greenlaw accomplished the feat vs. Cal on Feb. 17. In the quarterfinals of the 2017 MPSF tournament, Ijeoma Ikpe tied a program record with seven goals vs. Oregon, while Alex Watson had five at Michigan earlier that year. Last season, Steele put up five scores vs. Arizona State, while Grace McGinty duplicated the total at Furman. With the exception of the USC clash, San Diego State emerged as the winner in the other five outings.
* Despite two setbacks last weekend, March has still proven to be a very fruitful month for the Aztecs over the past three years, with the Scarlet and Black posting a 17-6 record during that span, including a 15-2 mark at home. Since 2017, SDSU is 18-7 overall at Aztec Lacrosse Field.
* 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-county 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.
* After 11 games, Caitlin Jones leads the stellar San Diego State rookie class with 16 goals, 10 draw controls and nine ground balls, while Arielle Shahrabani has racked up six tallies, three ground balls and three caused turnovers. In addition, Courtney Robinson has four goals to her credit, along with eight draw controls, seven ground balls and a trio of caused turnovers.
* 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 eighth 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 Saturday's tilt, San Diego State heads north to the Bay Area to battle No. 20 Stanford on Thursday, April 4, starting at 4 p.m. PT.
Opponent Notebook
James Madison
The Dukes (7-3, 0-0 CAA) have dropped two straight at home, falling to then-No. 8 Virginia by a 14-9 count (March 20) before suffering an 18-5 defeat at the hands of No. 2 Maryland (March 24). The loss to the Cavaliers ended JMU's seven-game winning streak, as well as the team's unbeaten stretch of 19 home games dating back to 2017. Individually, the Dukes are led by senior Hanna Haven, who has racked up 37 points on a team-high 19 goals and 18 assists, while junior Logan Brennan has 18 goals to her credit. In addition, JMU has received 17 tallies from junior Maddie McDaniel, who has won a team-leading 43 draw controls, while fellow classmate Emma Johnson tops the squad with 27 ground balls and shares the club's lead with 13 caused turnovers, joining senior Caroline Sdanowich (38 dc) and freshman Lizzy Fox. Goalkeeper Molly Dougherty has started all 10 games for the Dukes as a redshirt sophomore, posting 97 saves, a .492 save percentage and a 10.37 goals against average. Collectively, JMU ranks second in the Colonial Athletic Association in scoring offense (12.3/gm) and leads the league in scoring defense (9.67/gm). The Dukes also top the CAA in points (17.9/gm) while ranking second in assists (5.6/gm), draw controls (13.0/gm) and ground balls (18.9/gm). JMU is led by Shelley Klae-Bawcombe, who is in her 13th year as head coach at her alma mater. After leading the Dukes to the national championship last season with a 16-15 victory over Boston College in the title game, Klae-Bawcombe was named the IWLCA Division I National Coach of the year and the ILWomen Division I Coach of the Year. As a player, she earned Brine/IWLCA First-Team All-America honors as a senior in 1997 and was second-team selection as a junior in 1996.
Lacrosse Set for Road Test at No. 10 James Madison
