Aztecs Win at Cal 15-6

BERKELEY, Calif. – The Aztec lacrosse team (1-1) earned their first win of the 2022 season with a 15-6 win at Cal (0-3) Friday evening.

SDSU trailed 3-1 in the first quarter but then went on a 4-0 run and never relinquished the lead and put the Golden Bears away by outscoring them 7-1 in the fourth quarter.

"It was a great team win," head coach Kylee White said after the game. "Every person on the roster contributed tonight and I'm really proud of how our team took control of the controllables and gutted out the win because playing Cal is always a battle and we had to fight until the last whistle."

The Aztecs were led by Deanna Balsama's five goals, one off her career-high of six she set while at George Mason.

"Deanna faced a lot of high-pressure defense but still managed to score five goals because of the work her teammates put in to get her opportunities," White explained.

Bailey Brown added a career-high four goals and drew praise from White. "Bailey was all over the field and did a little bit of everything, scooping up ground balls, winning draw controls while also scoring goals."

Balsama scored the first goal of the night, and then Cal scored three unanswered to grab a 3-1 lead heading into the second quarter.

SDSU's defense tightened up and shut the Golden Bears out in the second quarter while scoring four straight goals to take a 5-3 lead at the halftime break.

After trading early goals in the third quarter, SDSU went down two players due to penalty, but the Aztecs survived without allowing a goal and then Brown netted her third goal of the night to push SDSU's lead to 7-4.

Cal cut the lead to two with a goal 90 seconds later, but then the Aztecs finished the game on an 8-1 run, featuring three fourth quarter goals from Balsama.

The Aztecs outshot Cal 38-27 and had a 29-17 advantage in shots on goal.

Outside of the nine goals by Balsama and Brown, Camdyn O'Donnell had two, Brook Waddell had one and both of SDSU's assists while Julia Lytle, Cailin Young and Katelyn Murphy each scored once.

Goalkeeper Sam Horan had a career-high 11 saves and made some huge stops at critical moments.

Cal was led by Amanda Morse's three goals and goalkeeper Riley Drullinger finished with 14 saves.

STAT OF THE GAME
The Aztecs finished the game on an 8-1 run.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We learned a lot about ourselves last weekend and what we need to do as a team to get the result we want." Head coach Kylee White

THE NOTE
The Aztecs have won their last seven meetings against Cal.

UP NEXT
The Aztecs play at UC Davis Sunday at noon. It will be the Aggies first game of 2022.