News|Schedule / Results|Roster|Officers &Coaches|

Broncos go 2-0 on President's Weekend

Feb. 18, 2014

The Santa Clara Broncos Men’s Lacrosse team took a successful road-trip over President’s Weekend, going 2-0, besting the Claremont Cougars 10-6, and winning a thrilling contest against LMU 11-10 in overtime. 

Coming straight off the bus to play the Cougars of the Claremont Colleges, the Broncos got off to a slightly sluggish start, allowing Claremont to snag an early 1-0 lead. However, SCU evened the score at 1-1 at the end of the quarter, and added four more before halftime to take a 5-2 lead going into the second half. A five goal third quarter from the Broncos left the score at 10-4. Two late goals from the Cougars were not enough to get them back in the game, and the Broncos prevailed 10-6. Both Eric Risa and A.J. Von Massenhausen scored twice for the Broncos, and Scott Wheaton got three tallies. Defensively, C.J. did an impressive shut-down job on Claremont’s leading offensive player, who scored only once.

The game played on Monday had much more tension and drama in store for the visiting Broncos. Taking the field against a talented LMU squad, the Broncos looked sluggish in the early going, and dropped to a 4-1 deficit by the end of the first quarter. SCU was able to stop the bleeding with a 2-2 second period that left the score at 6-3 going into the second half.

With the half came both a change in the weather, and a change performance for the Broncos. A sunny morning gave way to an overcast afternoon, which must have been to the liking of Seattle native Eric Risa, who notched a goal early in the second half, spurring the Broncos on to a 4 goal 3rd quarter, and a much closer 8-7 score headed into the final period. The Broncos notched another in the fourth, but gave up a pair of goals, and SCU found themselves on the outside looking in, down 2 goals, without the ball, with 53 seconds on the clock.

Coming out a timeout, C.J. Toy delivered a magnificent take away to give the Broncos possession and hope for the comeback. After getting the ball downfield, Scott Wheaton found the back of the net, but the Broncos still had a long ways to go to try and force overtime. Santa Clara freshman Eric Risa was called upon for the critical face-off, which he won despite the high pressure and physicality of the LMU face off man. With the ball secured, the Broncos found Wheaton behind the goal, who then dodged his way to the goal and powered the ball home with less than 10 seconds remaining to force OT.

After losing the overtime face-off, Santa Clara continued the lockdown defense they had played in the second half to regain possession. Shortly after, Senior Robby Inch scored on a tough look to seal the comeback and a 2-0 record on the road trip.