March 27, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
Advancing to overtime for the second time in three games, San Diego State lacrosse refused to fall, beating Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) foe Fresno State, 8-7, on a converted free position attempt by Vickie Porter at Aztec Lacrosse Field on Sunday.
The win, SDSU's second consecutive, gives the Aztecs a 3-1 mark to open MPSF play, and a 4-6 overall record. Fresno State falls to 3-7 and is 0-4 against conference opponents.
"This was a big learning weekend for us," San Diego State head coach Kylee White said. "We had to fight all the way to the end. We knew that Fresno State was going to be a really tough opponent, but we learned that if you show up confident and ready to play, anything can happen. I think our team understands that now more than ever."
With just four seconds remaining in the first half of the opening overtime period, Porter drew a foul and was issued a free position attempt. Her second attempt of the day saw the junior throw the ball into the back of the cage for the 8-7 golden goal.
Trailing 1-0 after a Fresno State goal 6:10 into the game, the Aztecs were able to take its first lead of the game thanks to goals scored 1:13 apart by Katie Gill and Alexa Comfort. Porter's first free position goal of the game put SDSU up 3-1 with 14:07 remaining in the half.
The teams proceeded to trade goals with Erin Jeffery and Alex Watson maintaining San Diego State's one goal advantage, and the Aztecs went into halftime with a 5-4 lead in hand.
But 10 minutes into the second period, Fresno State was able to take advantage and netted a pair less than a minute apart for a 6-5 lead with 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
The Scarlet and Black refused to bend, however, and Watson's second of the game knotted the score at 6-6. The Aztecs again fell behind with just under 11 minutes remaining in regulation but Comfort's second goal with 4:32 remaining was the 7-7 equalizer to force the game into overtime.
In the contest, San Diego State out-shot Fresno State, 27-15. The Aztecs also won the ground ball battle, 22-18, while the Bulldogs won nine draw controls to SDSU's eight.
Porter was one of three Aztecs with multi-goal games. Watson scored two goals and added an assist, taking 10 shots, the most for an Aztec this season. Comfort also scored a pair of tallies, adding an assist and scooping up three ground balls, which tied for the team lead with Kristen Hickey and Katrina Reeves. Hickey led SDSU with four caused turnovers.
Reeves earned her second win in as many contests, making two stops in 32:57 of action. Katie Merritt started the contest, making three first-half saves.
The Aztecs continue MPSF action on Sat., April 2 with a 3 p.m. contest at No. 8 USC.