March 15, 2015
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SAN DIEGO - San Diego State senior attack Lauren Maack finished with three goals and four assists to lift the Aztecs to a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) victory over California, 20-14, on a warm Sunday afternoon at Aztec Lacrosse Field.
SDSU (5-2, 3-0 MPSF) remains atop the conference standings after the victory, as the Aztecs have won five-straight games for the first time in the program's four-year history. They've also now won 10-straight contests when leading at halftime and nine in a row when scoring at least 15 goals.
Cal (1-5, 1-2) scored four-straight goals early on to grab the lead, 4-1, with 19:06 left in the first half, but the Aztecs quickly went on a 4-0 run of their own to retake the lead and never trailed again.
"We knew Cal would come out ready to play, and our games with them are always close," SDSU head coach Kylee White said. "We were able to shut down their top two scorers, so I'm proud of our defense for following the scouting report."
Senior midfielder Christina Ricciardulli finished with four goals, four groundballs and two caused turnovers, while Maack, junior Sophie Koubek and sophomore Ijeoma Ikpe each recorded a hat trick with three goals apiece. Senior Michaela Jarvis added two goals and two assists, senior Grace Korandovich tallied two goals with four draw controls, junior Andrea Killebrew had two assists and junior Alexa Comfort had one goal and one assist.
Meanwhile, California's leading scorer Bella Huther recorded just one goal, as did the Golden Bears' second-leading scorer Sasha Anielski.
The Aztecs outshot Cal 32-26, including 20-13 in the second half, while also holding a 20-16 edge in draw controls and a 14-12 advantage in groundballs. After leading by only one at halftime and holding a slim 10-9 lead with just over 20 minutes remaining, SDSU went on another 4-0 spurt started by Ricciardulli's goal off an assist from Maack, and capped off by Maack's unassisted score to make it 14-9 with 14:19 left.
A free-position goal from Ikpe followed by unassisted goals from Korandovich and Ricciardulli extended San Diego State's lead to 18-11 with just over seven minutes to play, and the Aztecs cruised from there.
"At halftime we addressed that Cal was beating us in hustle plays," White said. "But in the second half we dominated the hustle plays. You need more possessions to get into a groove sometimes."
Sunday marked White's 25th victory as head coach at SDSU, as she also defeated good friend and former Canadian National Team teammate Brooke Eubanks in the process. Neither was on her mind much during the game though.
"Once the game starts, you forget about personal ties," White said. "But now (after the game) I'll go over and give her a hug."