SDSU Men's Lacrosse Heads to Texas for MCLA National Tournament
Aztecs face Tennessee on Monday in Round Rock, Texas
Cover Photograph courtesy Anna Scipione and SDSU Men’s Lacrosse
Round Rock, Texas -- The San Diego State men’s lacrosse team opens play at the Men’s College Lacrosse Association Division 1 Tournament on Monday.
The eighth-seeded Aztecs face #9 University of Tennessee. The Aztecs and Volunteers play at 12:15 local/central time (10:15 a.m. PDT/1:15 p.m. EDT) on field 8 of the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.
Fans can follow the game via paid live stream HERE. Additionally, follow the MCLA Twitter/X feed at @mcla for in-game score updates.
Aztec Season Review: SDSU (13-2, 5-1 Southwestern Lacrosse Conference) won its first 11 games of the season. The Aztecs, however, then suffered a loss to Arizona State. The team capped the regular season with a monumental win over Chapman. Three teams (SDSU, ASU and Chapman) all ended up with a 5-1 SLC record. Chapman ousted the ‘Tecs, 11-8, in the first round of the conference tournament. The Aztecs are led by Head Coach Bryan Bome, the 2024 SLC Coach of the Year.
Scouting the Aztecs: SDSU boasts the top offense and defense in the conference. Senior Jeffrey Hoang—the SLC Player of the Year--leads the club with 79 points (34 goals, 45 assists). Fellow attacker Brian Davito, a junior, tops the team with 46 goals and dished out 30 assists on the year. Face-off man Tristen Keyser has won 214 draws against 58 losses. Senior goalkeeper Kyle Hedberg has impressive numbers in save percentage (64 percent) and goals against average (5.7 GAA). Senior defender Joshua An earned first-team SLC honors. The Aztecs garnered a total of 11 SLC honors. (For the full SLC All-Conference story, click HERE)
Scouting Tennessee: The Volunteers enter the nationals with an 11-2 record. They finished first in the Atlantic Lacrosse Conference’s southern division with a 4-0 record. The Vols dropped a non-conference game to Georgia and, in the ALC Championship game, were bested by Liberty, 17-13. Mason Cain leads the offense with 74 points. The junior attackman has 36 goals and 38 assists. Freshman Max DeMella has won 184 of 210 faceoffs. In the cage, senior Zachary Janus boats a .511 save percentage and averages 10.4 saves per game. Jack Noel is the head coach at Tennessee, which is making its third trip to the national tournament. The Volunteer’s other MCLA appearances were in 1999 and 2001. Lacrosse began at UT in 1974.
SDSU Postseason History: The MCLA Nationals started in 1997. The Aztecs only other appearance in the event was 2015 when SDSU lost to Virginia Tech, 10-7, in Orange County Calif. Prior to the inception of the national tournament, SDSU’s best finish was in 1984 when the team lost in the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League championship game. The red and black fell at UC Santa Barbara in sudden death overtime. Aztec lacrosse was founded in 1977.
SUPPORT SDSU MEN’S LACROSSE DURING THIS SENSATIONAL YEAR: The Aztecs are seeking support from alumni, parents and fans. Please consider donating to the ‘Tecs HERE. Or scan the QR Code.
Please look for tomorrow’s story which features a Q&A session with SDSU Head Coach Bryan Bome.