LOS ANGELES – In an exciting fashion, the San Diego State lacrosse team secured its first-ever win in program history over the University of Southern California Women of Troy, topping their Pac-12 opponent 14-13 in overtime Friday at the United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Coliseum.
Senior Bailey Brown scored the game-winning golden goal with just eight seconds left in the first overtime period, solidifying a 7-1 Aztecs' run that brought the Scarlet and Black back from a 12-7 deficit early in the second half to win by a score of 14-13.
The win is the Aztecs' fourth win of the 2021 season, with each victory coming over a Pac-12 opponent. The Women of Troy fall to 7-5 on the season with the program's first loss to San Diego State in their all-time series.
Four Aztecs scored hat tricks in the win over USC, as Brown, graduate student Emily Resnick, redshirt senior Lexi Tan, and sophomore Caitlin Jones each found the back of the net three times in the matchup in Los Angeles. Senior Taylor Sullivan and Courtney Robinson each added a goal to round out the Aztecs' offensive attack. Most impressively, all three of Jones' goals came from free position makes while two of Tan's scores came off free-position attempts. The Women of Troy saw a hat trick from Kelsey Huff and two goals apiece from Madison Waters and Finley Ueland.
Robinson led the Scarlet and Black with four ground balls while also adding a caused turnover. Freshman Maggie Marion caused two turnovers, the most of any Aztec, while Brown captured two draw controls to lead all SDSU student-athletes. Redshirt senior Katy Sharretts was impressive once again in the net, totaling 14 saves and a .519 save percentage. Her 14 saves added to her career total moved her into sole possession of the sixth-most saves in a career by a MPSF netminder (519 total). She has 10 saves to earn to reach fifth all-time in the MPSF record books (Laurel Maunder- Fresno State (529 saves)). USC's Maddie McDaniels collected an impressive 16 draw controls throughout the matchup while netminder Riley Herford snagged nine saves for a .391 save percentage.
The Aztecs kicked off the game with the first two scores, as Caitlin Jones and Bailey Brown each found the back of the net to give SDSU a 2-0 lead. USC responded with two goals of their own to equalize the score, but Sullivan drove in for a score to give the Aztecs back a 3-2 lead. The back-and-forth lead changes continued until the end of the first half where the Women of Troy went on a 4-0 run to close out the first 30 minutes of play and take an 11-7 lead into their locker room.
USC opened the second half with a goal, bringing the game to a 12-7 score. The Aztecs then responded with a 3-0 run, silencing the Women of Troy for more than ten minutes offensively. Tan and Jones' free-position shots alongside a goal from Resnick drove it to a two-goal game, 12-10. USC would then score to make it a three-goal game, but an incredible steal-and-score from Courtney Robinson two minutes later brought the matchup back to a two-score game. Goals from Jones and Tan followed to close out a 6-1 run that tied the game up at 13-13 with 5:25 left to play, the first time the game had been tied since the score was 7-7.
THE STAT I
The win over the Trojans not only marked the first win against USC in program history, but also the Aztecs' first overtime victory since March 8, 2019, when SDSU topped Vanderbilt in double overtime at Aztec Lacrosse Field.
THE STAT II
Caitlin Jones has scored 11 goals in her last three appearances for the Aztecs, the most goals scored in her career in a three-game span as well as the most scores by any individual Aztec player in those last three matchups.
THE QUOTE
"Today was the epitome of a team win", head coach Kylee White said excitedly. "The game plan was about us and about how the way we were going to win would be if we committed to supporting each other. We were calm, poised, confident, and disciplined. We backed each other up. We did not dwell on mistakes and we just focused on the little things and kept the game simple, focusing on one play at a time. It was such a great win for this program. The student-athletes who built this program from SDSU teams past and present helped to make this happen because they too always believed in the Aztec family."
UP NEXT
The Aztecs continue their road trip heading to Davis, Calif. for their first MPSF conference matchup of the season with the UC Davis Aggies. The opening draw is set to begin at noon.