EUGENE, Ore. – The Aztec lacrosse team (2-3) won at Oregon (1-3) Sunday afternoon behind huge individual performances from Deanna Balsama and Camdyn O'Donnell.
"I'm excited that we ended this tough stretch of our schedule of five straight road games with a win," head coach Kylee White said after the game. "We showed our guts today and played together. Our game plan was to focus on us and what we do well and not worry about how to stop Oregon."
SDSU went on a 9-1 run spanning the first and second quarter to take a 10-4 lead, but saw the Ducks pull within one goal (13-12) late in the third quarter. The Aztecs then scored three of the next four goals on their way to the victory,
Balsama set a school record with eight goals and O'Donnell had four goals and three assists and also set a school record with eight ground balls.
"Deanna had an outstanding offensive performance, but it was a complete team effort," White explained. "I'm proud of Bailey [Brown], she was committed to the draw controls and was everywhere and played so composed. Camdyn was amazing and her ground balls led to caused turnovers."
The Ducks began the game up 3-1 and that's when the Aztecs reeled off a 9-1 run, beginning with four goals from four different Aztecs, to go up 10-4. They would lead for the rest of the game.
A 3-0 run by the Ducks to end the half brought the score 10-7 at the halftime break.
SDSU scored the first two goals of the second half and then Oregon went on a 5-1 run to pull within one point of the Aztecs at the end of the third quarter. SDSU scored the first two goals of the fourth and then held on for their second win of the season.
The Aztecs outshot the Ducks 40-33 and put 29 shots on goal compared to Oregon's 25. They also had an advantage in ground balls (29-27) and draw controls (20-16).
Aside from Balsama and O'Donnell, SDSU got two goals from Julia Lylte, two goals and two assists from Bailey Brown, a goal and an assist from Brook Waddell and a goal from Cailin Young, who also finished with six ground balls and five draw controls. Brown led the team with nine draw controls, matching her career-high. Goalkeeper Sam Horan collected 10 saves.
Oregon was led by Hanna Hilcoff's six goals and Lillian Stump who finished with four goals and three assists.
STAT OF THE GAME
Balsama and O'Donnell combined for 16 points, the most ever for an Aztec duo in a single game.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We knew this was our game. Even when Oregon battled back, we never thought we were going to lose. I could see it in our team's eyes, they were committed to this win and to each other." Head coach Kylee White
THE NOTE I
Deanna Balsama became the first Aztec in program history to have two games with six or more goals, doing it in a span of just three games. Her nine points were the second most in a game in school history.
THE NOTE II
Aside from Camdyn O'Donnell's school record eight ground balls, her threeassists tied for the third most ever and her seven points tied for the fourth most in school history.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs are off until March 12 when they kick off a stretch of four straight home games against Princeton.
Balsama & O'Donnell Lead SDSU Past Oregon 18-15
