SAN DIEGO – 10 different Aztecs found the back of the net as the San Diego State lacrosse team picked up its second win of the season over the University of California, Berkeley, besting the Golden Bears 16-11 Friday at Aztec Lacrosse Field.
The Aztecs' (2-2) scoring attack was led by junior Lexi Tan who tallied a hat trick along with two assists for a team high five-point performance. Seniors Emily Resnick and Morgan Taylor, junior Julia Sheehan and sophomore Cailin Young each scored two goals while senior Taylor Sullivan, junior Bailey Brown, sophomores Courtney Robinson and Arielle Shahrabani and freshman Camdyn O'Donnell rounded out SDSU's scoring with one goal apiece.
Shahrabani also led the team in ground balls, totaling six on the day, followed by redshirt senior goalkeeper Katy Sharretts picking up five. Resnick and Morgan each had two caused turnovers, while Brown led all Aztecs with seven draw controls. Sharretts totaled 10 saves and a .476 save percentage clip.
The Golden Bears (2-3) saw just five different athletes score, led by attacker Quinnlynn Mason's four-goal performance. Goalkeeper Makayla Ward led the team with seven ground balls while Lizabanks Campagna totaled a team-high eight draw controls.
The Aztecs held the advantage on nearly every stat line, outperforming the Golden Bears in shots (40-to-31), saves (10-to-8) and ground balls (30-to-26). Cal captured three more draw controls throughout the game while the two teams each accumulated 11 free position shots.
With 26 seconds off the game clock, junior Lexi Tan found the back of the net with an assist from Resnick to start the game's scoring and give the Aztecs a 1-0 lead. SDSU quickly struck again, this time with a free-position goal from Sheehan. The lead grew to 3-0 when Resnick ran in for her first score of the day on an unassisted goal.
Cal scored its first points of the day with 22:37 to play in the first, but the Aztecs quickly responded with two more goals to bring the score to 5-1. Brown became the fourth different SDSU player to find the net, quickly followed by a goal from Camdyn O'Donnell just 42 seconds later.
After the aforementioned three goals from the Aztecs, the Golden Bears added a score to the board. SDSU would immediately respond with four more marks, started by Sheehan with her second goal of the day off another free position opportunity, her third score of the season. After a six-minute offensive shutout for both teams, Tan added her second goal of the day to bring the score to 7-2. Robinson scored her first goal of 2020 to increase the Aztecs' lead to 6 points. Shahrabani made it 9-2 with her second goal of the season, assisted by Taylor.
California broke up the Aztecs' run with a score 33 seconds later. The Golden Bears added three more for a four-score run of their own, sending both teams into halftime with the score at 9-6.
Young became the eighth different Aztec to score when she opened the second half with a dominant shot to the back of the net, quickly sending the scoreboard to 10-6. After Cal responded, Taylor made her mark on the scoreboard off a free position attempt, the ninth SDSU player to add a point to the board.
Berkeley would counter once again, keeping the scoring even for the second half through 10 minutes of play. Both teams added another goal apiece, with the Scarlet and Black's score coming from Sullivan. After another Cal goal, the score sat at 12-9 with 16:36 left in the second half.
An eight-minute scoring drought plagued both teams before the Aztecs' could find the back of the net once again. Taylor opened the scoring efforts with 8:42 left in the game with an unassisted goal but the Bears came back just 39 seconds later with a point of their own.
With the score at 13-10 with eight minutes left to play, it was three scores from the Aztecs that would seal the deal for SDSU. Young and Resnick both scored their second goals of the day and Tan made it a hat trick with the second-to-last score of the day.
Although the game was all but decided, Cal closed out the game's scoring with a goal from Quinnlyn Mason to end the game with a score of 16-11.
THE STAT
Katy Sharretts totaled 10 saves on the day, leaving her just two shy of the program record for saves in a career. The senior goalkeeper has three 10-plus save performances in the Aztecs' 2020 season thus far.
THE QUOTE
"We are very deep offensively," noted head coach Kylee White. "We have tons of threats and I think this offense is the most unified offense I've seen in a while—we don't just need to rely on one player."
"Cal is a very tough opponent—they always show up and play us until the last whistle. We knew it was going to be a tough game. For them to fight back in the first half didn't surprise me—it was a good win because they are such a competitive opponent."
UP NEXT
The Aztecs take a short break from competition with their next game scheduled for Sunday, March 8 at home against George Mason. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Aztec Lacrosse Field, with a t-shirt giveaway scheduled for the first 300 fans in attendance.
10 Aztecs Score as Lacrosse Tops Cal 16-11
