Santa Cruz, CA - The SBCC women's lacrosse club was down 5-8 at halftime on the road at UC Santa Cruz but rallied to make it interesting and almost tie the game. The Vaqueros ran out of time before they could tie it with their big second half. The final score was Banana Slugs 12, SBCC 11 with the Vaqueros outscoring their opponent 6-4 during the second half rally. The game was a rematch between the two programs that played in the WWLL Division Two championship game last April. In that one UC Santa Cruz won by two goals.

Twenty-two players suited up for the Banana Slugs and sixteen players suited up for SBCC. That head count is a victory, of sorts, for the Vaqueros who played with only ten players last weekend at the Santa Barbara Shootout. The SBCC squad recruited more players and suited up six beginners on their Northern California road trip to play the clubs at Stanford and UC Santa Cruz.

Sophomore Mari Cajandig (Davis, CA) led all scorers with 5 goals and 1 assist for SBCC. Sophomore Megan McCullough (Novato, CA) had 4 goals and 1 assist. Standout goal keeper Briki Cajandig (Davis, CA) had 13 saves. The Vaqueros have next weekend off for some time to regoup even more before traveling to UC Irvine on March 8th and then opening WWLL Central D2 play at Cal State Fullerton on March 9th.

Each WWLL region regular season first place team receives an automatic qualifier spot in the WWLL Post-Season Tournament. The tournament is being hosted by UCSB April 19th & 20th. The losses to Stanford and UC Santa Cruz, two Northern region teams, don't affect the possibility of winning an automatic bid to the championship tournament. To get that SBCC can win WWLL Central with upcoming games. Biola, Fullerton, Loyola Marymount, UNLV and SBCC are in WWLL Central D2.

• WWLL Standings
  

Palo Alto, CA - SBCC took to the road to play the club at Stanford University. The Cardinal were undefeated at 6-0 entering the game and promptly showed the Vaqueros how they've won all their games so far, with a fast aggressive style of play. SBCC had played in the Santa Barbara Shootout the previous weekend with only ten players. Undaunted, the club recruited new additions from the SBCC student body and they traveled with 16 players eligible to suit up on this Northern California road trip. The six beginning lacrosse players received a rude welcome, of sorts, to lacrosse from Stanford but learned a lot playing for the first time. All 16 Vaqueros played in the game for SBCC.

Mari Cajandig (Davis, CA) led the Vaqueros with 6 goals and Megan McCullough (Novato, CA) scored 5 goals. Briki Cajandig (Davis, CA) had 17 saves facing 41 shots. SBCC concludes the weekend road trip with a game at UC Santa Cruz. The Banana Slugs and the Vaqueros faced each other in the WWLL Division Two championship game last season. UC Santa Cruz won that game 11-9 for their first championship but with so many new faces it's a rematch only of team names. SBCC returns only four players who played in that title game last year. UC Santa Cruz is 2-2 entering the 11:00am Saturday game.

Santa Barbara, CA - The season started fast for the SBCC women's lacrosse club. The Vaqueros returned to school for classes on January 27th. A short two weeks later SBCC faced nationally ranked WCLA DII competition at the 26th Annual Santa Barbara Shootout. Playing short-handed after some unexpected roster attrition between the fall semester and the spring semester, the Vaqueros gutted out two Shootout games.

The best chance for a win came in the first game with St. Benedict's but SBCC fell short in a close 10-8 score despite only having 10 players suited up for the contest. St. Benedict's put all 12 positions on the field and that much, at least, helpled them prevail. Sophomore Megan McCullough (Novato, CA) led SBCC with 4 goals and 1 assist. Sophomore Mari Cajandig (Davis, CA) scored 2 goals and had an assist while redshirt sophomore Marissa Hill (Huntington Beach, CA) scored 2 goals. Goal keeper Briki Cajandig (Davis, CA) had 16 saves. 

The second game of the Shootout matched the Vaqueros with #1 University of Utah. SBCC played the Utes the closest of all teams in the Shootout but fell 20-10, again playing with only ten players on the field. Valiant efforts were turned in for the second day in a row by all Vaqueros present. Mari Cajandi led SBCC with 5 goals, Megan McCullough scored 4 and freshman Haley Moulton (Freeland, MI) scored her first college goal. Briki Cajandi had 18 saves.

Up next for SBCC is a road trip to play games at undefeated Stanford Club (6-0) and at UC Santa Cruz (2-2). Game time on Saturday at Stanford is 1:30pm and on Sunday at UC Santa Cruz it is 11:00am.

Santa Barbara, CA - It's still early and there's room for more but eighteen incoming students have declared they are turning out for the SBCC Women's Lacrosse Club for the 2013-14 academic year. It is a record number of new female students interested in becoming part of the team. Fourteen of the newcomers have previous lacrosse experience and four of them are novices. The club embraces beginner players and aims at having six or more per year join the program so more spots remain open.

The Vaqueros women's lacrosse club is coming off a banner year in which they advanced to the Western Women's Lacrosse League (WWLL) Division II championship game this past April. SBCC were also selected for the national post-season scene and played in the U.S. Lacrosse WCLA National Championsihp Tournament in May. 

SBCC coaches Eric Valois and Jacklyn Taylor return for a second year and the team will continue to enjoy the use of the fine turf facilities at UCSB for practices and games. The Vaqueros finished ranked 19th nationally under Valois and Taylor, who are also assistant coaches at UCSB. The Vaqueros were ranked as high as eleventh (March 20th poll) during the regular season where they had an 8-6 record playing six nationally ranked opponents. It seems fitting for the #1 ranked community college in the United States to have a nationally ranked women's lacrosse team since women's lacrosse is the highest rated sport academically at the university level.

Additional players are welcome to join, no experience necessary but, of course, welcome! Go to the Team Member Info page on this website to find out more about joining the club or to get contact information for coaches Eric Valois and Jacklyn Taylor. Fall lacrosse practice, non-traditional season, started Thursday, August 29th, but it's still possible to join the club.