MPSF Lacrosse Results, Mar. 30-31
March 30, 2017 UC Davis 8, Mt. St. Mary's 5 (Note: Taylor Cuenin's 8 caused turnovers ties MPSF Record).
Recap by UCD
EMMITSBURG, Md. - Senior Melissa Kellan scored three goals while sophomore midfielder Taylor Cuenin posted a career-high eight caused turnovers to lead UC Davis to an 8-5 victory over Mount St. Mary's in collegiate women's lacrosse action at Waldron Family Stadium Thursday.
The Aggies improve to 5-6 for the year. The Mountaineers slip to 1-6 overall.
Kellan's hat trick is her third for the year and her 12th in her career. Cuenin and freshman Amanda Outcalt added two scores, junior Kelsey DeJesus picked up another, while freshman Kate Graham had all three UC Davis assists. Cuenin, who entered the game ranked fourth nationally in steals, also added a game-high four ground balls.
Sophomore and Bel Air, Maryland, product Grace Richards made her first collegiate start as a goalkeeper, tallying seven saves against three goals allowed in her first-half stint. Senior Lauren Ali, also playing within vicinity of her hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, guarded the cage for two more stops in the second half.
For the Mount, senior Sammie Knapp and sophomore Taylor Carhart each netted two goals.
After allowing Carhart to draw first blood with her eight-meter shot in the third minute, UC Davis quickly took the lead on back-to-back Outcalt goals in the ninth and 10th. Cuenin and DeJesus also scored in the first half to give the Aggies a close 4-3 halftime hedge, but Kellan broke out the gates with three consecutive goals in the first 8:16 to extend that margin to 7-3. Graham assisted on two of those scores, then fed Cuenin in the 44th minute to make it four unanswered.
Overall, UC Davis outshot its host by a 23-20 margin, including a 12-8 edge in the second half. The Aggies also won more ground balls, 17-15, with a 12-7 advantage after the break. The Mount won one more draw, with DeJesus, sophomore Shannon Cross and freshman Sorana Larson posting two draw controls to lead the Aggies.
Cuenin's eight caused turnovers is the most in program history since 2004, as far back as single-game superlatives are available. The previous high was six by Katie McMahon in an April 17, 2005 shutout of St. Vincent. Cuenin's previous best was five at Denver earlier this year.
UC Davis concludes its Spring Break road trip with a noon game (9 a.m. Pacific) at Drexel on Sunday.
Mar. 31
*No. 9 USC 21, Fresno State 5
Recap by USC
LOS ANGELES - The ninth-ranked USC lacrosse team (8-3, 2-0 MPSF) dialed up a 21-5 win over Fresno State (7-4, 0-3) at McAlister Field on Friday, March 31. It was the 21st consecutive home victory for the Women of Troy and the 19th straight at McAlister Field. Behind a career-high five-goal performance by freshman midfielder Kaeli Huff, the Trojans picked up their 11th consecutive MPSF win.
Huff--who registered her first-career hat trick--scored two of her goals on free-position shots and picked up two ground balls and a draw control to go with two caused turnovers. Senior attacker Michaela Michael scored her 33rd-career hat trick within the first five minutes of the opening draw and went on to finish with four goals and 11 draw controls. It was the seventh time in her career that Michael has won 10 or more draws in the same game.
Michael and Huff were just two of three Trojans to score hat tricks. Senior attacker Cynthia Del Core had three goals to go with two ground balls and a caused turnover to mark the fifth game this season that the Trojans have had at least three players finish with hat tricks. Eight different Trojans scored goals--seven with multiple-goal games. Senior midfielder Drew Jackson had two goals and two assists and added two draw controls. Sophomore attacker Gabbi Klein had two goals and an assist.
Off the bench, sophomore midfielder Amanda Flayhan added a pair of goals, one from free position and picked up a ground ball and a caused turnover. Junior attacker Alexis Kardias scored one goal and dished out a pair of assists while freshman attacker Sarah Larkin had two goals and freshman attacker Ashley Hill picked up an assist. Freshman midfielder Kerrigan Miller had three assists and picked up a ground ball, a draw control, and caused two turnovers.
Defensively, the Trojans operated as a unit and pushed the Bulldogs into 16 turnovers on the possessions Fresno State had. USC picked up 21 ground balls to the Bulldogs' nine and won the center circle by a 17-11 edge. The Trojans forced the Bulldogs into seven failed clearance attempts and used their defensive prowess to out-shoot FSU, 37-9. Junior goalie Gussie Johns picked up her eighth win and allowed just two goals in 30 minutes in the cage. Sophomore midfielder Jackie Gilbert caused two turnovers. In the second half, freshman Hannah Upshaw had four saves to go with three ground balls.
For the Bulldogs, Kayla Galet scored two goals. Marina Mayo, Tiffiny Wallace, and Sarah Bloise had the other three. Kyleigh Westgarth grabbed six draw controls. In goal, Laurel Maunder took the loss, but finished with four saves. In her place, Natalie Chaffin had six saves but gave up 13 goals.
The Trojans won the opening draw, but were forced into a turnover that yielded the game's first goal for Bloise. From there, USC settled down and reeled off the next 12 goals. Michael scored back-to-back goals at 28:24 and 27:15 to turn the tables and gave the Trojans a 2-1 lead. Del Core scored unassisted at 25:54 before Michael won the next draw and notched her hat trick with a goal nine seconds later for a 4-1 lead. Del Core took passes from Jackson and Miller to score the next two Trojan goals and then Huff went back-to-back from free position for goals to extend the USC lead to 8-1 with just 10 minutes off the clock.
Jackson scored USC's ninth goal unassisted and then passed to Huff for the next. Michael scored her fourth goal of the game at 17:18 to put USC up, 11-1, for a running-clock situation. Off a clearance, junior defender Lydia Sutton took the ball all the way to goal before passing to Klein for the shot and goal and a 12-1 USC lead. Wallace scored to stem the tide, but Huff took a pass from Miller for the 13th Trojan goal and then Flayhan scored off a pass from Klein for a 14-2 USC lead heading into the break.
Just one minute into the second half, Huff picked up her fifth goal on a pass from Hill. Mayo scored one minute later to respond for the Bulldogs, but Larkin flipped the script and did the same to the Fresno State defense to push USC's lead to 16-3. Galet scored her first goal at the 19:36 mark before the Trojans went on a 5-0 run with goals from Flayhan, Kardias, Jackson, Larkin, and Klein over the course of the next 15 minutes. Galet had the last goal of the game to close the gap to 21-5 before the clock expired for the USC win.
Up next, the Women of Troy face Bay Area foe California (2-9, 0-3 MPSF) on Sunday (April 2) at 2 p.m. PT on McAlister Field. The Trojans and the Golden Bears game will be shown live on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Bay Area.
For more information on the USC women's lacrosse team, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @USCTrojansLax.
SAN DIEGO STATE 13, Brown 8
Recap by SDSU
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State closed off its month-long homestand on a winning note Friday with a 13-8 victory over Brown in a non-conference game at Aztec Lacrosse Field. SDSU was led by senior Ijeoma Ikpe, who turned in a fine all-round performance with five points on three goals and two assists to go with four ground balls, one draw control and one caused turnover, while fellow classmate Alex Watson netted a hat trick of her own, helping the Aztecs match their best 11-game start in program history at 8-3. In addition, San Diego State received a pair of markers from senior Kayla Deitz, while another senior Kristen Hickey recorded three points on a goal and two assists to go with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. In front of the net, senior goalkeeper Katrina Reeves made a season-best 14 saves, which ranks fourth on the Aztecs' single-game charts while tying for game-high honors with five ground balls. SDSU scored on its first possession as sophomore Natalie Peel found the back of the net with 35 seconds elapsed in the contest. However, the two sides slugged it out over the next 13 minutes until the Bears' Grace Plassche scored on a free position attempt to tie the game at 1-1 with 15:50 remaining in the first half. The Aztecs seized control at this juncture with five straight goals to build a 6-1 advantage by the 3:39 mark of the period. Ikpe fueled the run with a pair of strikes, while Deitz and sophomores Jill Haight and Harlowe Steele added single tallies, before Brown (4-6) ended its scoring drought on a goal by Zoe Verni with 2:02 left in the half. Following the break, San Diego State extended its lead to 8-2 after Deitz and Watson converted their respective free position shots in the first five-plus minutes of the second period. However, the Bears threatened to make a game of it, scoring three consecutive goals in a span of 4:21, capped by a Bri Irons marker during a man-up situation with 19:25 left on the clock. However, the Aztecs snuffed out Brown's momentum with two quick goals by Ikpe and Hickey just 28 seconds apart, which put the Scarlet and Black up 10-5 by the 14:29 mark. After a goal by the Bears' Carolyn Paletta, Watson delivered two more strikes, increasing SDSU's advantage to 12-6 with 10:54 remaining. The two teams traded possessions over the next six minutes before the Brown cut the margin to four on tallies by Hafsa Moinuddin and Verni. But time was running out on the Bears, as the Aztec defense clamped down and held the visitors in check for the final four minutes. In the interim, SDSU's Katherine Smith closed out the scoring with a goal at the 1:07 mark to give the contest its final outcome. In addition to her first-half goal, Haight and freshman Ryli Quinn led the Aztecs with three draw controls each, while Steele caused two turnovers and picked up a ground ball. As a team, SDSU was outshot 31-28 for the contest, but maintained a 25-22 advantage in shots directed on goal. San Diego State jumps back into Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action on Monday when it travels to the Central Valley to face Fresno State, starting at 4 p.m. PT.
No. 5 STONY BROOK 10, No. 4 Colorado 6
Recap by CU
STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- All good things must come to an end. After starting the season 11-0, the fourth-ranked Colorado Buffaloes suffered their first loss of the season to the fifth-ranked Stony Brook Seawolves (9-1) on Friday night, falling 10-6.
The Buffs were led junior Darby Kiernan, who recorded three goals on six total shots. She also recorded a game-best eight draw controls. Senior Cali Castagnola earned two goals in the game for the Buffs, marking the eighth consecutive game she has tallied two or more goals.
WHAT HAPPENED: For the second straight game and just the fourth time this season, CU gave up the first goal as SBU tallied its first at 25:00. Castagnola fired off a shot and found the back of the net at 23:25 to even the game up.
The Seawolves recorded three straight goals after Castagnola's goal to take a 4-1 lead. Kiernan earned her first marker of the game at 16:36 to bring the Buffs within a pair, but SBU answered with two more goals before the end of the first half, giving CU its largest halftime deficit of the season.
Castagnola got the Buffs off on the right foot to start the second half with her second goal of the game at 29:11. A little over 10 minutes later (18:56), sophomore Miranda Stinson tallied her first goal of the game to cut the Seawolves lead to a pair (6-4).
SBU got its first marker of the half at 18:21, but Kiernan answered with her second of the day (her 30th on the season) at 16:53. She got the hat-trick two minutes later (14:56) and brought CU within a goal (7-6), forcing SBU to take a timeout.
The Buffs won the next draw, but were not able to convert on offense, turning the ball over, which ended in Stony Brook's eighth goal of the game (12:46). SBU finished the game with two more goals to hand CU its first defeat of the season.
KEY STATISTICS: SBU had 24 shots in the game to CU's 17 - shots on goal were 17-9 in favor of SBU. CU's Paige Soenksen earned seven saves in the game, while SBU's Anna Tesoriero had three. CU had the edge in draw controls (12-6), but SBU led in caused turnovers (17-7).