The San Diego State University women’s lacrosse team (1-5) faced off on Wednesday for its third game of the season versus a ranked team, No. 6 Stony Brook (3-0).
Senior goalkeeper Sam Horan touched on the expectations of playing against a stronger opponent in the Seawolves after losing to the No. 19 USC Trojans on Feb. 24.
“Stony Brook, they are from Long Island, they are going to be that much tougher,” Horan said. “But we will be ready for it. We just have to remember to play our game.”
They did not play like a team that is fully capable of playing its best, according to head coach Kylee White postgame, and suffered a frustrating 19-3 loss to Stony Brook.
In the first period, the Seawolves blew over the Aztecs.
Stony Brook scored four-straight goals without allowing SDSU any offensive possession, forcing White to take a timeout.
After the timeout, the Aztecs stopped the Seawolves’ consistent offensive possession and finally got their turn on offense.
Senior attack Deanna Balsama put the first shot on the net, but it was stopped by Stony Brook graduate goaltender Hailey Duchnowski.
Graduate attacker Jolie Creo made it 5-0 for Stony Brook before SDSU finally got on the board with junior midfielder Emma Betts’ transition goal.
The Seawolves continued to dominate offensively and tacked on five more goals by the end of the first period, setting Stony Brook’s lead to 10-1.
The Aztecs started to play better defense in the second period and did not let Stony Brook score a burst of goals.
The SDSU defense only allowed three goals in the second period while the Seawolf defense remained sharp and did not give the Aztecs any opportunity to score. Stony Brook led 13-1 at the end of the first half.
The Seawolves ended the first half with 22 shots on goal and Horan had nine saves. The Scarlet and Black only had three shots on goal.
Seven different Seawolves scored with speedy junior midfielder Ellie Masera leading the way with three.
Stony Brook continued to overpower the Aztecs offensively in the third period, increasing the lead with three more goals.
The Seawolf defense was super strong in the third and did not allow many goal-scoring opportunities for SDSU.
After not scoring since the first period, Balsama netted two goals in the fourth period, but the game already heavily favored Stony Brook.
Three additional fourth period goals by the Seawolves finalized the final score at 19-3, leaving White frustrated with the team’s performance.
“We played bad. I think we did not show up and I do not know what or why that is,” White said. “This was a showing of a long month that we have just had, and we are pretty beat up with some injuries.”
In SDSU’s moments of desperation, the only way to slow down Stony Brook was by fouling. The Aztecs ended with 26 fouls, one less than they committed against USC.
Masera was quick for the Seawolves and was able to cut around the Aztec defense mostly all game. She finished with four goals and had 12 of Stony Brook’s 38 shots.
The Seawolves outdrew the Scarlet and Black 20-6 and outshot them tremendously on goal 29-8.
The Aztecs continue their long home-game stretch against Kent State on March 3 and High Point on March 5, but in a different venue, Snapdragon Stadium.
