BOULDER, Colo. – The Aztec lacrosse team fell to No. 22 Colorado 17-8 Saturday afternoon. Victoria Rankin led the Aztecs with three goals.
The Buffaloes (7-3, 2-1) came out shooting in the first quarter, scoring six quick, unanswered goals, leading the Aztecs (1-11, 0-3) 11 to 1 after the first 15 minutes. In the next three quarters the Aztecs out-scored the Buffaloes 7-6 including an outstanding off-balance goal by Sara Toner in the third quarter. The Buffaloes out-shot the Aztecs 34-20 and 25-14 in shots on goal. SDSU was 0-5 in free-position shots, while UC Davis was 2-5.
Rankin led the Aztecs with three goals on three shots, including a free-position goal, as well as with five draw controls. The other five goals came from Tatum Neach, Emma Betts, Sara Toner, Morgan Delwiche, and Nikki Seven. All of the Aztecs' goals were unassisted. Mia Kohn and Reilly Hunter led the team with two ground balls each. Goalkeeper Caitlin Boughton had 8 saves and 13 goals allowed on 30 shots faced.
Averi Gardner and Madeline Pisani led the Buffaloes with four goals each. Lily Assini led the team with three assists. Jess Peluso led the Buffaloes with three ground balls and three caused turnovers, and tied with Assini with two draw controls each. Goalkeeper Danielle Heintz had one save and four goals allowed on 10 shots faced.
"I'm really proud of how we finished the game. It's another story of hurting ourselves in the beginning quarter, especially with the number of turnovers we had. Colorado is too good of a team and really capitalized on our mistakes. We played hesitant at first, but our ability to turn things around and finish strong, leaving it all on the field, is what defines us," explained Head Coach Kylee White. "Mia (Kohn) deserves recognition for her exceptional performance, consistently putting us in a position to win the draw control, and I'm extremely proud of her effort. Tori (Rankin) also had a breakthrough game. Our initial game plan focused on driving to the goal and we struggled to execute early on. However, Tori took it upon herself to make that change and score three goals which were crucial to bringing us back into the game. If we could erase the first quarter, it's a very different game. Unfortunately, that's where we lost it. As a young team, we're still battling those nerves and learning from each experience, improving and finding our rhythm as a team."
STAT OF THE GAME
SDSU out-scored Colorado 7-6 in the last three quarters of the game, keeping the Buffaloes scoreless for the last 16 minutes.
THE NOTE
Victoria Rankin had her first hat-trick of her career as an Aztec.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs return home to face Stanford on April 6.