SAN DIEGO – After a weekend on the road, the Aztec Lacrosse team will have its home opener this Saturday when the Aztecs host UC Davis for a non-conference meet-up at 12 p.m. Admission is free to all games at Aztec Lacrosse Field and there is also a free stream.
Aztec Tidbits
- The Aztecs last game was a 16-6 win over Xavier, hosted at Arizona State.
- Freshman Frankie Garcia (Newport Beach, Calif.) leads the team with five points from four goals and one assist, and six shots on goal.
- Goalkeeper Caitlin Boughton (South Riding, Va.) made 11 saves in her first career start. She currently leads the PAC-12 with 18 saves.
- Jenna McDermott (Westminster, Md.), in her first year at SDSU after playing at UMBC for four seasons, also has four goals on the season, three of which were free-position goals.
- Sara Toner (Reston, Va.) is leading the Aztecs with 10 shots, including the game winning goal against Xavier.
- The Aztecs have five assists on 22 goals, with Nikki Seven (Crofton, Md.) leading the team with two.
- Mia Kohn (San Diego, Calif.) leads the Aztecs with three caused turnovers.
- Kate Christos (Madison, N.J.) leads the team with six draw controls.
- Five Aztecs are tied with three ground balls.
- After the home opener, SDSU will play three games on the road, facing No. 4 Denver (February 25), and then a weekend in North Carolina to play Campbell (March 1) and High Point (March 3).
- The Aztecs will then play four straight home games including the conference opener at Snapdragon.
Opponent Notebook (UC Davis)
The Aggies opened their season with a 20-7 win against Akron and a 9-13 loss to Niagara... Freshman Cami Johnson and Junior Ella Brislin each posted five goals... Junior Grace Gebhardt led the team with four assists... Senior defender Sierra Lizerbram had five caused turnovers and three ground balls... UC Davis is 9-6 overall against the Aztecs, but SDSU has won two of the last three matches at home... In the Aggies last trip to the Aztec Lacrosse Field, the Aztecs came out on top 21-17.
Season Preview Tidbits
- The Aztecs will be competing in the PAC-12 conference in 2024. Also joining the PAC-12 this season are the Aggies of UC Davis.
- SDSU will play a challenging schedule in 2024, facing three teams ranked in the IWLCA preseason poll: No. 4 Denver, No. 10 Florida and No. 17 USC.
- Key returners for the Aztecs include Brooklyne Waddell, who had 12 goals and holds the school record for most assists in a game (eight, March 12, 2023), Emma Betts, 18 points on 14 goals and four assists and Kohn, seven goals in 2023 on a .438 shot percentage.
- The Aztecs will have to fill the shoes of goalkeeper Sam Horan, SDSU's all-time leader in career save percentage as well as in a season. As well as Deanna Balsama, who became the all-time leader in goals (109) in just two years as an Aztec and was a part of the IWLCA All-Star team in 2023, and Cailin Young, who scored 16 points from 10 goals and six assists in 2023.
- Kohn along with Avery Dyer and Courtney Anderson will be the team captains this season.
- SDSU has 10 newcomers (seven freshmen and three transfers), and head coach Kylee White is excited about the experience and maturity transfer McDermott (UMBC) will bring to this younger team. In her four years playing for the Retrievers, McDermott scored 33 goals, three of which were game winners. Her senior year, she started in all 14 games and was named the team's unsung hero.
- As the only head coach in program history, White is now in her 13th season with the Aztecs alongside Associate Head Coach Brandi Padilla who is back for her 12th season. They are joined by new assistant coach Rob Bray who spent the last four years as the assistant coach for the women's lacrosse team at Vanderbilt University.