The San Diego State women’s lacrosse team (4-6) defeated the Quinnipiac Bobcats (5-4, 1-0 MAAC) 13-7 in their first game of the five-game road trip on Wednesday, March 30.
After Bobcat senior Gabby Beckett scored to start the game, the Aztecs went on a 4-0 run with goals from junior Camdyn O’Donnell, senior Deanna Balsama and senior Julia Lytle.
Bobcat senior Sydney Skalstad — the sister of Aztec sophomore Sloane Skalstad — ended the Aztecs’ run to finish the first quarter.
Lytle started off strong defensively in the first quarter with three of the four caused turnovers for the Aztecs.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Skalstad and first-year Ellagrace Delmond scored to tie the game at 4-4.
Sophomore Brook Waddell stopped the Bobcats from starting a run with her goal to make it 5-4.
Both defenses didn’t allow any more goals in the second quarter, but with 10 seconds remaining, Waddell went from the back of the net to the front and put a hook shot on goal which was denied by junior Kat Henselder.
Henselder had 10 saves in the first half to senior Sam Horan’s four while the Aztecs got four more caused turnovers in the second quarter to increase their total to eight.
Senior captain Bailey Brown opened the scoring in the third with her free-position goal, then a Bobcat defender turned it over to senior Courtney Robinson, who put in a breakaway goal to make it 7-4.
O’Donnell’s third goal of the game caused Quinnipiac to call a timeout. Junior Sophia Iaccino came out of the timeout and scored after a mad scramble in front of the net for Quinnipiac to make it 8-5.
It didn’t take long for the Scarlet and Black to cut the Bobcats’ momentum as sophomore Mia Kohn went coast-to-coast to score and increase the lead for the Aztecs.
After Bobcat sophomore Kalie Moore put in a free-position goal, Waddell scored on the ensuing offensive possession for the Scarlet and Black and made it 10-6.
Balsama got a free-position opportunity at the end of the third but couldn’t execute and the Aztecs didn’t get another goal-scoring opportunity.
Goals by Robinson and freshman Emma Betts gave the Aztecs a commanding 12-6 lead to start the fourth quarter.
Bobcat senior Maddie Deagan tried to breathe some hope for her team with her goal but the Aztec defense and Horan didn’t allow anymore to score.
Balsama’s free-position goal with five minutes remaining settled the rest of the fourth and the Aztecs came away with a 13-7 victory.
Horan had 12 saves and Henselder had 16.
O’Donnell led the Aztecs in points with her three goals and two assists, increasing her goal total to 27 on the season. Eight different players scored for the team and the seven goals given up were the second-fewest allowed this season.
The Scarlet and Black had 20 fouls — four less than their previous game — to the Bobcats’ 30 and Waddell had the only yellow card while Kohn had the only green card. Five different Bobcat players had yellow cards.
The Aztecs — who have been outmatched in draw controls in most of their games this season — had 13 draw controls to the Bobcats’ 11.
The Scarlet and Black improved to 3-3 on the road this season and will be heading to New York to play the Columbia Lions (2-7, 0-2 Ivy League) on Saturday, April 2.
