Feb. 1, 2017
GAME WEEK PREVIEW
--/rv Denver (0-0, 0-0 Big East) at San Diego State (0-0, 0-0 MPSF)
Saturday, Feb. 4 | Aztec Lacrosse Field | 1 p.m. PT
Live Stats | Watch
Game Notes vs. Denver | 2017 Aztec Lacrosse Schedule
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's lacrosse team opens its sixth season of competition on Saturday when it plays host to the University of Denver, starting at 1 p.m. PT. Live stats will be available on GoAztecs.com, while the first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free Rise Up T-shirt.
For the first time in program history, SDSU will be playing its regular-season opener at home and Saturday's contest against the Pioneers will be its earliest on the calendar as well. In their inaugural game as a program, the Aztecs squared off against Ohio State at Stanford University on Feb. 11, 2012.
SDSU enters the upcoming season brimming with confidence and raised expectations. Fueling such optimism is a blend of 23 returners and 11 talented freshmen, along with the unbridled enthusiasm of sixth-year head coach Kylee White, who has guided the Aztec program since its christening in 2012.
"We will have a very fast and athletic team on the field, this season," White said. "We have a very young team; our freshman and sophomore classes make up the majority of our roster. But everyone has bought into the team concept. They understand one another and have been gelling nicely in game scenarios, so I think we have great chemistry."
Despite its youth, SDSU still has plenty of veteran leadership with a nucleus of 10 seniors, led by Kristen Hickey, Vickie Porter and Alex Watson, who combined for 47 goals last season, accounting for 37 percent of the team's offensive output.
Hickey enjoyed her finest collegiate season in 2016, finishing second on the squad with 19 goals, 26 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers. The Dedham, Mass., native tallied five games with multiple goals last year, including a five-goal performance in the regular-season finale against No. 12/8 Stanford.
"Kristen has assumed the role of wanting the ball more in late-game situations," White said. "She likes that pressure."
A local product from Poway, Porter was third on the team last year with 16 goals, while her 19 draw controls ranked second. She registered six multi-point games and scored at least two goals in five outings.
"Vickie is one of the most phenomenal athletes I have ever seen," White said. "She is a steady contributor and is very elusive on the field."
Watson, meanwhile, ranked fifth on the squad with 15 points in 2016 after notching 12 goals and three assists. The Davidsonville, Md., native finished with two goals in four different contests, including a pair in the second half of a thrilling 10-9 victory over conference rival Oregon.
"Alex is really maturing as a player," White said. "She's lightning-quick and I think she'll be very difficult to contain this season."
The Aztecs also return the experienced goaltending tandem of Katrina Reeves (Granite Bay, Calif.) and Katie Merritt (Danville, Calif.), who combined to allow the second-fewest goals in program history (190) last season. Reeves posted an 11.35 goals against average and a .378 save percentage in almost 444 minutes of action. In 2015, she was named to the all-European tournament team at the ELF European Lacrosse Championship after competing for the Spanish national squad.
In addition, Reeves was selected as a tri-captain for the 2017 campaign, joining Hickey and fellow classmate Kayla Deitz (Simsbury, Conn.), who will see an expanded role this season after appearing in a career-high 10 games a year ago.
And the list continues.
Another senior, Casey Taggart (Bay Shore, N.Y.), is expected to aid in the Aztecs efforts this season, along with sophomore Natalie Peel (Mount Laurel, N.J.). Taggert collected 17 ground balls and caused nine turnovers last year, while Peel led all SDSU freshmen in 2016 with five goals, 12 ground balls and seven draw controls.
"Casey is definitely the star of our defense right now," White said. She's just amazing. She's very vocal and comes out of nowhere to cause turnovers."
The Aztecs will have to offset the loss of their top two point-producers from last year in Alexa Comfort (20 goals, 5 assists) and second-team all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honoree Felice Artuso (10 goals, 13 assists), who finished fourth in the league with 1.53 caused turnovers per game and ninth with 0.87 assists per contest.
However, SDSU has added a talented freshman class comprised of two high school All-Americans, a pair of all-state performers, nine all-conference selections, three all-section/district honorees, one all-county pick and one player of the year award recipient.
"Our freshmen have been very impressive so far." White said. "They're playing like upperclassmen right now and that started last fall. I can't say enough about all of them."
Among the newcomers is Morgan Taylor, a product of San Ramon, Calif., who received All-America recognition as a senior at California High School in 2016 and was voted the East Bay Athletic League most valuable player.
The Aztecs are also expecting sizeable contributions from Meg Morgan, Ryli Quinn and Taylor Sullivan. Morgan was a two-time all-state performer at Upper Arlington High School in Ohio where she scored 63 goals during her senior season and was a three-time all-conference selection.
A local product from San Marcos High, Quinn was a three-time all-CIF San Diego Section honoree who holds her school record for total points, assists, ground balls and turnovers caused.
Sullivan, meanwhile, completed a stellar prep career at Broadneck High in Annapolis Md., garnering first-team all-county accolades on three occasions. She scored 98 goals over her final two seasons and tallied 36 assists.
SDSU will play a program-record 10 home games this year, including seven in March alone. During that stretch, the Scarlet and Black will welcome four consecutive eastern foes to Montezuma Mesa, including Boston University (March 5), Saint Joseph's (March 10), New Hampshire (March 15) and Columbia (March 18), followed by a pair of contests against MPSF opponents Saint Mary's (March 24) and California (March 26), while a visit by Brown (March 31) rounds out the busy month.
"The BU and UNH games will be great tests because they're both against East Coast programs that have had great success historically," White said. "The Cal game always seems like it's always a one-score game. We have a great rivalry with them and I think it will be an exciting matchup again this year. I'm excited for all of them actually. We have a great atmosphere here."
The Aztecs, who finished with a 4-11 record and a 3-6 mark in the MPSF a year ago, were pegged for sixth-place finish in the league's 2017 preseason poll. The Aztecs received 28 points in the balloting, which was completed by the conference's nine head coaches. SDSU landed in the sixth position, eight points behind fifth-place UC Davis (36 pts.) and five points ahead of seventh-place California (23 pts). Reigning MPSF champion and NCAA quarterfinalist USC was predicted to defend its MPSF title from a year ago, garnering 64 points and eight first-place votes, while league finalist and NCAA Tournament participant Stanford was picked for the runner-up slot after netting 56 points and one first-place vote.
"We want to make a statement this year," White said. "We want to beat some of these more established teams and return to the MPSF tournament. It's been a great preseason. We feel really good about this year. We're a lot deeper and our team has shown a lot of unity."
Opponent Notebook
Denver
The Pioneers are entering their first season as members of the Big East Conference after a 13-year affiliation with the MPSF. Denver, which is receiving votes in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll released Jan. 30, returns four of its top five scorers from a year ago, including Nicole Martindale, who ranked second on the squad with 32 points, 21 goals and 11 assists, while Elizabeth Behrins (30 pts., 21g/9a), Kendra Lanuza (27 pts., 18g/9a) and Caitlin Derry (20 pts., 7g/13a) are also back in the mix. Anchoring the Pioneers on defense is Layne Voorhees, a three-time all-MPSF performer who topped the squad with 45 ground balls and ranked second with 20 caused turnovers and 18 draw controls. Goalkeeper Maddy Stevenson will be back in front of the cage once again after recording a 7.77 goals against average and a .472 save percentage last year. Head coach Liza Kelly is in her 11th season in the Mile High City, guiding Denver to a 9-9 overall record and a spot in the MPSF semifinals. The Pioneers have captured all five meetings with the Aztecs, including a 15-6 decision in Denver last season. Alex Watson had three points on two goals and one assists to lead SDSU in that contest.