San Diego State lacrosse hosted the Ohio State Buckeyes at The Mesa on Saturday for their fourth home game of the season. Despite strong performances from Frankie Garcia and Bella Tan, each scoring three goals, and Caitlin Boughton making 13 saves, the Aztecs struggled and lost 22-8.
With this defeat, San Diego State’s record drops to 5-4 overall and 0-0 in the Big 12, while Ohio State remains undefeated at 8-0 and 1-0 in the Big 10.
Garcia and Tan have been standout offensive players for the Aztecs this season, both contributing three goals on six shots. Tan continues to lead the team with 30 goals, while Garcia tops the team in points and assists with 36 points from 25 goals and 11 assists.
Although the Aztecs have one of the nation’s highest-scoring offenses, they struggled against Ohio State’s Jocelyn Torres, who leads the country in save percentage (.573) and ranks third in goals-against average (6.05). Sara Toner and Nikki Seven were the only other Aztecs to score, each netting one goal.
San Diego State’s Caitlin Boughton faced a season-high 44 shots from Ohio State, recording 13 saves—just one shy of her personal best.
Zoe Coleman from Ohio State was the top scorer, finishing with seven points from five goals and two assists, while Kampbell Stone and Leah Sax each contributed four goals.
The Buckeyes scored first with Sax’s goal, but the Aztecs quickly answered with a goal from Garcia less than a minute later. However, by the end of the first period, San Diego State trailed 6-1. After a six-goal run by Ohio State, Tan managed to score at the 10:49 mark in the second period. Following a series of exchanged goals, the Aztecs narrowed the gap to four, but then conceded four consecutive goals before halftime, ending the half down 11-4.
The second half began with a goal from Brynn Ammerman for Ohio State, but the Aztecs quickly responded with three unanswered goals from Toner, Tan, and Garcia, reducing the deficit to five. However, Ohio State then went on a dominant 9-0 scoring run to secure the 22-8 victory.
San Diego State lacrosse will return to action on March 22, starting conference play against UC Davis at Aztec Field at 6 p.m.