SAN DIEGO – San Diego State lacrosse fell 18-6 to 17th-ranked Penn State at Aztec Field on Sunday afternoon. The Aztecs are now 1-5 on the season while the Nittany Lions remain undefeated with an 8-0 record.
Mia Maechtel led the San Diego State offense with two goals and one assist. She continues to be the leading scorer for the Aztecs with 18 points on the season. Sophia Miller, Tate Stokesberry, Millie Prager and Tatum Neach also found scoring opportunities with one goal each.
Payton Wainman, Maddie Greco, Rocquette Allen, Delaney Radin and Erika Ho had two goals apiece to lead the Penn State offense, which ranks seventh in the nation in points per game. Anna Salerno, Emma Kelly, Kelly MacKinney, Hannah Hoyt, Anna Mellinger, Porter Rhoades, Maggie Rezza and Ellie Wisch also got on the board with one goal each.
The Aztecs fought hard defensively, winning the both the ground ball and caused turnover battles. Recording 16 ground balls as a team, Liv Tramontana and Maya Tillman led the way, matching their career highs with three on the day. San Diego State continues to rank first in the Big 12 in caused turnovers per game with an average of 10.80, which they surpassed with 11 on Sunday. Tramontana forced the most turnovers with a career high three.
Penn State put two points on the board before Tate Stokesberry got things going for the Aztecs at the 11:40 mark in the first period. The Nittany Lions then scored eight unanswered goals before Tatum Neach and Millie Prager scored back-to-back to bring the game to 10-3. Penn State’s Wainman put one away in the final minute of the first half and the Aztecs went into the break at an 11-3 disadvantage. The Nittany Lions scored three in the third period while Maechtel was the only Aztec to find the goal. After four Penn State goals and two from Miller and Maechtel in the fourth period, the Nittany Lions secured an 18-6 victory.
Caitlin Boughton and Grace Moore split time in the cage with Boughton taking the start and recording 42 minutes with four saves. Moore was between the pipes for 18 minutes and logged three saves on the day.
Penn State’s Sydney Manning and Arden Jansen each played 30 minutes in the goal. Manning, the starter, had two saves while Jensen grabbed four.
“I do believe we are getting better every time we step on the field,” said Head Coach Kylee White. “Our team had moments today that we’re really excited about. There were things that we had been working on in practice that we applied to the game today. Right now, we’re just lacking consistency and discipline in some areas that are hurting us. But to play a top 20 team and show that there are moments where we could hang with them, that’s great news. We just now need to be consistent for 60 minutes.”
Next up, San Diego State will welcome Columbia to Aztec field for a noon game next Sunday.