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Aztecs suffer first-ever loss to Bulldogs in six meetings
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo: Kayla Deitz led the Aztecs with four goals. Courtesy goaztecs.com
April 3, 2017 (Fresno) - Playing its first road game in over a month, the San Diego State lacrosse team traveled to the Central Valley on Monday, but came up on the short end of 17-12 score to Fresno State in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game. With the setback, the Aztecs slip to 8-4 on the season and 2-2 in conference play, while the Bulldogs raise their record to an identical 8-4 mark overall and 1-3 in the MPSF.
After clinging to a slim 9-8 lead in the first minute of the second half, SDSU was outscored 9-3 the rest of the way, suffering its first loss to Fresno State in six all-time meetings. Currently, the Aztecs occupy the fifth spot in the conference race, one game behind fourth-place Oregon and a half-game up on UC Davis.
Individually, senior Kayla Deitz led San Diego State with a career-high four goals, while fellow classmates Kristen Hickey and Alex Watson each netted a hat trick as well. Sophomore Taylor Sullivan also got into the act with two markers of her own, while senior Ijeoma Ikpe continued her strong play of late, posting five caused turnovers, four draw controls and three ground balls. In addition, sophomore Jill Haight contributed two assists while collecting three ground balls.
SDSU built its biggest lead of the afternoon at 5-2 following a Deitz goal with 15:23 remaining in the first half. However, Fresno State responded with three straight tallies over the next three minutes, capped by Nicole Ortleib’s score at the 12:28 mark, to tie the score at 5-5.
Shortly thereafter, Deitz put the Aztecs back in front briefly with her third marker of the period, before the Bulldogs answered with three consecutive strikes over the next seven minutes to stake an 8-6 advantage with 4:34 left in the half. However, SDSU fought back to level the game at 8-8 by intermission on a pair of goals by Watson.
The Aztecs opened the second half with a quick strike by Hickey, but could not add to their advantage as Fresno State unleashed a 5-1 blitz over the next 12 minutes and change to take the lead for good at 13-10 with 17:08 to go in the contest.
SDSU narrowed the gap with a pair of goals by Hickey and Sullivan just 42 seconds apart. However, the Bulldogs kept the visitors off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, scoring four goals in the final 11:23 to squelch any Aztec comeback hopes.
Senior Katie Merritt made eight saves in front of the cage for the Scarlet and Black before giving way to sophomore Katy Sharretts with 22:40 remaining in the second half.
Conversely, Sarah Bloise led Fresno State with four goals, while Ortleib, Marina Mayo and Tiffiny Wallace contributed three apiece.
As a team, SDSU outshot the Bulldogs, 33-30, including a 27-25 margin in shots on goal. However, the Aztecs were just 2-for-6 on free position attempts, compared to Fresno State’s 5-for-5 clip. In addition, the Bulldogs maintained a 25-23 advantage in ground balls and a 16-15 edge in draw controls.
San Diego State returns to action on Saturday, April 8, when it welcomes No. 9 USC to Aztec Lacrosse Field for another MPSF conference game, starting at 6 p.m. PT.
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