Game Week Preview
Fresno State (7-5, 0-1 MPSF) at San Diego State (8-7, 0-1 MPSF)
Saturday, April 20 | 1 p.m. PT | Aztec Lacrosse Field
Aztec Lacrosse Storylines
* After a six-game road swing, San Diego State returns home to face Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival Fresno State in its regular-season finale on Saturday, April 20 at Aztec Lacrosse Field. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. PT and the first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free pair of Aztec sunglasses.
* Prior to Saturday's clash, SDSU will honor its nine-player senior class with a special pregame ceremony honoring Natalie Peel, Paige Hudak, Grace McGinty, Shannon Gallagher, Jenny Buckland, Jill Haight, Harlowe Steele, Kirstie Greenlaw and Elizabeth Adams.
* The Aztecs and Bulldogs will also meet in the semifinals of the MPSF Championships on Friday, April 26, at Aggie Stadium in Davis, Calif., with first draw scheduled for 5 p.m. PT. The winner of Saturday's matchup at SDSU will determine the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds for that contest after UC Davis clinched the top spot on its home turf April 13 with a 16-12 victory over SDSU.
* The road-weary Aztecs will be looking to savor some proverbial home cooking after an 0-6 stretch over the last month, capped by a 13-11 setback at Arizona State in their last outing on Wednesday.
* Against the Sun Devils, Harlowe Steele continued her tremendous campaign, tying for game-high honors with four goals, while Kirstie Greenlaw and Lexi Tan finished with two tallies apiece. Anchoring the defensive effort for SDSU was goalkeeper Katy Sharretts, who made 12 saves, caused three turnovers and collected three ground balls, while Marissa MacRae and Morgan Taylor picked up a trio of ground balls each. It wasn't enough, however, as ASU broke a 7-7 tie with a 4-0 run through intermission to take the lead for good.
* For the season, Steele leads the Aztecs with 41 goals, which ranks second in the MPSF, while Taylor Sullivan occupies the third spot with 35 tallies of her own. With their totals, Steele and Sullivan give the Scarlet and Black a pair of 35-goal scorers for the second year in a row after Steele (38) and Jill Haight (37) became the first duo in program history to accomplish the feat last season. In addition, Steele's 41 goals rank third on the school's single-season charts behind Meris Walsh (47, 2012) and Bailey Ewing (46, 2013).
* With her four markers at Arizona State, Steele has scored at least three goals in 17 different games during her career, including nine this season. In addition, the SDSU tri-captain has notched at least one tally in 23 of her last 24 starts dating back to last year, with the lone exception in that stretch occurring in the 2018 regular-season finale at Notre Dame.
* Not to be outdone, Steele has also amassed a team-high 41 draw controls this year, surpassing Felice Artuso for second place on the program's all-time list in that category with 133 draws won for her career. With her total, the Aztec midfielder enters the weekend ranked fourth in the MPSF in that statistic, while Grace McGinty (38) is tied for fifth, followed by Bailey Brown (36), who is sixth.
* In addition to Steele and Sullivan, the SDSU offense features sports five other double-digit goal scorers in Kirstie Greenlaw (22), Caitlin Jones (19), Morgan Taylor (18), Lexi Tan (16) and Bailey Brown (10).
* At the annual San Diego State student-athlete banquet on April 15, Harlowe Steele was named female student-athlete of the year for her excellence in athletics, academics, community service and leadership. In addition, Kay Kay Greskovich received the Malik Award for the fall semester, presented to student-athletes who achieve the highest GPA (4.0).
* After posting a team-high four draw controls at UC Davis on April 13, Caitlin Jones picked up her second straight MPSF Rookie of the Week honor and fourth of the season. With her award, SDSU has now garnered 11 conference weekly accolades this season. Harlowe Steele has merited three certificates on offense (March 11, March 25, April 1), while Katy Sharretts (Feb. 18, March 11), Taylor Sullivan (March 18) and Elizabeth Adams (April 1) have received recognition on defense.
* As of April 18, SDSU finds itself among the Division I leaders in shots on goal (16th, 25.00/gm), ground balls (21st, 20.87/gm) and total shots (22nd, 33.07/gm). Entering the weekenf, the Aztecs also rank 39th in draw controls with 13.67 per contest.
* Individually, Steele occupies the 13th spot nationally with 1.20 free position goals per game (18 overall), while Sullivan ranks 32nd in that category (0.87, 13 overall). Elsewhere, Sharretts tops the MPSF with a team-leading 34 ground balls (2.43/gm). She also enters the weekend ranked 15th nationally with 148 saves for the season and is 20th with an average of 9.87 saves per game.
* Last month, Sullivan tied a school record with seven ground balls at Ohio State, which marks the top performance in the MPSF this year. She also netted her sixth hat trick of the year in that contest against the Buckeyes after recording just one last season. After causing a turnover at Arizona State, Sullivan moved into fifth place on the Aztecs' all-time list with 46 caused turnovers for her career and is just two short of surpassing Kristen Hickey (2014-17) for fourth in that category.
* Additionally, Marissa MacRae caused a career-high four turnovers vs. Central Michigan on March 5, tying three UC Davis players for the best mark in the league so far this year in that statistic.
* Heading into Saturday's showdown, SDSU boasts a 7-1 record against the Bulldogs, including a 4-0 ledger in San Diego. The Aztecs have won two straight against Fresno State, including a 16-6 victory in the semifinals of the MPSF Championships last year at Aztec Lacrosse Field. SDSU scored the first six goals of the contest, eventually building leads of 11-1 by intermission and 16-1 in the second half to take complete control. In addition, the Aztec defense limited Sarah Bloise, the MPSF's leading scorer entering the game, to just one goal on five shots for the entire evening. Individually, Harlowe Steele led the Scarlet and Black with a hat trick, while Grace McGinty and Paige Hudak tallied two markers apiece.
* SDSU will be looking to jump-start its offense after averaging just 10.17 goals during its six-game skid. Following an 18-15 victory over LIU Brooklyn on March 16, the Aztecs rose to 10th in the country with an average of 15.56 goals per contest. Over its last six outings, however, San Diego State has been forced to play from behind, trailing by an aggregate halftime score of 59-28. Consequently, the Aztecs have slipped to 37th nationally in scoring offense (13.40), but if they advance to the MPSF championship game, they still have a chance to surpass last year's squad, which set a program record with 256 goals.
* 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.
* 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.
* Through 15 games, Caitlin Jones leads the stellar San Diego State rookie class with 19 goals, 19 draw controls and 10 ground balls, while Arielle Shahrabani has racked up six tallies, three ground balls and three caused turnovers. In addition, Courtney Robinson has five goals to her credit, along with nine draw controls, seven ground balls and a trio of caused turnovers.
* 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 game, San Diego State will lock horns with Fresno State once again in the semifinals of the MPSF Championships on Friday, April 26 in Davis Calif. Game time is set for 5 p.m. PT. The winner will advance to the championship final against UC Davis on Sunday, April 28 at 1 p.m. PT.
Opponent Notebook
Fresno State
The Bulldogs (7-5, 0-1 MPSF) have been idle since April 6 after dropping their second straight in a 19-10 home loss to UC Davis following a 19-13 setback at Brown on March 31. Fresno State also had their game at Denver canceled on April 11 due to inclement weather. The Bulldogs have been led by Sydney Skalstad's 30 goals, while Tiffiny Wallace has 26 tallies of her own and has handed out 14 assists, tying Hannah Krats for the team lead. Additionally, Skalstad tops the squad with 39 draw controls, which ranks fifth in the MPSF. In front of the net, goalkeeper Laurel Maunder leads the conference in saves (149), saves per game (12.33) and save percentage (.492) while owning a 14.05 goals against average. She also ranks sixth in the MPSF with a team-high 26 ground balls, followed closely by Abbigayle Roberts (24) and Olivia Mannon (22). As a team, Fresno State is averaging 13.25 goals per game, but is allowing 14.25 on the other end of the field. Head coach Jessica Giglio is in her eighth year in charge of the Bulldog program.
Lacrosse to Host Fresno State on Senior Day
