SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Division III No. 5 Austin College was outpointed by No. 20 San Diego State University, 11-4, and Bucknell University, 9-8, on the final day of SDSU’s 2022 Aztec Invitational at the Aztec Aquaplex.
In the day’s opener versus the host Aztecs, Austin fell behind early as Lucia Carballo pumped in a shot 52 seconds into the game to stake San Diego State to a quick 1-0 lead. Brooke Le (Sr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) evened the scoreboard at 4:17, but Jessica Leckich returned the lead to San Diego State at 3:32. Le struck against at 2:23 to balance the score at two-all as the teams exited the opening frame knotted at a pair.
The Aztecs pulled ahead once again with 5:37 remaining in the second quarter as Samantha Loughlin unloaded a strike. Danni Croteau cushioned the margin to 4-2 at 3:46 prior to Sophie Oliver (Sr., Houston, Texas/Langham Creek) converting a man-up chance at 2:28 and cashing in an even-strength bid at 1:03 to square the squads at four-all prior to halftime.
Oliver’s goal marked the last marker of the contest for Austin as San Diego State turned up the intensity and outscored the Kangaroos 4-0 and 3-0 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to take an 11-4 victory.
For Austin, Oliver and Le both scored twice to account for the ‘Roos offense. Goalie Valery Piachonkina (Sr., Castro Valley, Calif./Mission San Jose) stopped 11 shots.
In the weekend finale versus fellow CWPA institution Bucknell, Austin held its own against the Bison in a two-goal defeat.
Chloe Smith broke the ice in the contest by swishing a man-up shot at the 6:56 mark of the first quarter to stake Bucknell to a 1-0 lead. Le evened the damage at 5:17 with a man-up strike of her own, but Smith slipped in a natural score at 3:12 to allow Bucknell to escape the first quarter with a 2-1 lead.
Paige Furano padded the margin to 3-1 47 seconds into the second quarter by taking advantage of an Austin exclusion for a man-up score. Larissa Hodzic made it 4-1 at 5:31, but Lauren Olivier (Jr., Indio, Calif./Citrus College) responded for the ‘Roos at 4:23 as Austin inched back within a pair at 4-2.
Oliver trimmed the ‘Roos deficit down to a single goal at 4-3 with 3:05 on the clock as Bucknell entered the break with a narrow one marker margin.
Following halftime, Smith (7:20) enlarged the Bison’s lead to 5-3, but Lexi Wong (Sr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) (6:16) and Shannon Berry (Sr., Austin, Texas/Westwood) (5:14) dented the twine to deadlock the teams at five-all.
Emma Molaski returned the lead to Bucknell at 3:07 before Smith (1:49) and Bella Moynihan (28 seconds) stuffed home insurance goals to build the Bison’s lead to three at 8-5.
Austin chipped its deficit down to a pair prior to the conclusion of the third quarter as Le beat the horn by a second to close the gap to 8-6.
Molaski rifled in a five-meter penalty shot with 1:04 left in regulation to make it 9-6. Cory McGrath (So., Flower Mound, Texas/Marcus) put away a shot and Le completed a hat-trick with 43 seconds remaining by swishing a man-up opportunity to establish the 9-8 final score.
Le led the way for the ‘Roos with three goals, while Oliver, McGrath, Berry, Wong and Olivier each notched solo strikes. Piachonkina stopped five shots.
