San Diego State lacrosse defeated George Mason 13-8 at the Aztec Lacrosse Field on Sunday afternoon.
The Aztecs (3-2) scored 54 seconds into the game and never trailed to get their fourth win of the season.
Here are three observations from the match.
1. Sharretts breaks program saves record
Aztecs’ senior goalkeeper Katy Sharretts has been in the program for five seasons.
In 2018, Sharretts took on the starting goalkeeper spot with Katrina Reeves graduating in 2017.
In Reeves’ four years on the Mesa, she totaled 405 saves, which is the program record.
Sharretts entered Sunday’s game only needing one save to tie and two to become the program leader in career saves.
She got nine saves, setting the program record to 413 saves with 10 games left in the regular season — not including playoff games.
Sharretts said she is grateful but has to focus on the next game.
“It’s crazy but I just got to keep going,” Sharretts said. “Shoutout to Katrina Reeves for setting that record in the beginning. I’m thankful for my teammates.”
Aztecs head coach Kylee White said she is impressed with what Sharretts has been able to do and a lot of it would not be possible without past players like Reeves.
“I’m so excited for her because she has been able to do it in a short amount of time and she is such an outstanding goalie,” White said. “It’s been really fun to coach her. A lot of credit to the people in front of her, giving the opportunity for her to make those saves.”
With at least 10 games remaining, White said she can not wait for what is left for the senior from Bel Air, Md.
“She is an athletic leader of this defense and I’m extremely proud and I hope that there are more accolades down the road,” White said.
2. SDSU’s defense in full force
The Aztecs allowed 21 shots in the game, with only eight in the first half.
In addition, George Mason had 22 turnovers compared to SDSU’s 17.
White said the team’s defense was on point against the Patriots.
“I think our defense played outstanding,” White said. “As a whole, they were united and they never backed down.”
George Mason did not score until the 14:45 mark in the first, a little more than halfway into the opening period.
Sharrets said the defense was able to make things easier for her.
“Our defense did awesome,” Sharretts said. “They were able to force the shots I was able to see, so I could make the saves. I have to give it all to them.”
3. Aztecs offense stabilized by trio
The rain stayed away Sunday afternoon, but SDSU’s scoring did not go dry.
Junior attacker Lexi Tan, freshman attacker Camdyn O’Donnell and senior midfielder Morgan Taylor each had a hat trick in the victory.
In addition, junior midfielder Bailey Brown scored twice and senior midfielder Emily Resnick scored once and had five assists.
Taylor said it was beneficial to have the offense and defense work.
“It was awesome,” Taylor said. “We played a pretty complete game. We had multiple threats on offense and everyone on defense played as a unit.”
In order to get the offense going, SDSU had to win the draw controls, which they did 14-9.
Sophomore midfielder Cailin Young won eight of the Aztecs’ 14 draws.
Taylor said Young winning draws motivated the team to score.
“That was a big momentum push for us,” Taylor said. “Cailin did a great job. She brought the energy up with how many draw controls she had.”
White said it was important for the Scarlet and Black to win the draw controls because George Mason has been successful with the draws in other games this season.
“That’s what kept George Mason in some of their other games,” White said. “We put a lot of focus in that this week in practice and our girls focused on it and applied what they learned. Cailin was incredible.”
Up next, SDSU looks to avenge one of their losses from last season when they face Cincinnati on March 16 at 1 p.m. at the Aztec Lacrosse Field to end the three-game homestand.
