UCSB Upset Bid Of Santa Clara Falls Just Short
The Gauchos had life in the closing moments but it came down to which team won the final draw control. The Broncos won it and ran out most of the final 50 seconds of the game. UCSB took the ball away with 8 seconds remaining but it wasn't enough time to transition the full field and get an equalizer. For the first part of the second half Santa Clara helped themselves with a good portion of their eleven draw controls coming right when they needed the ball the most all season. The Broncos won the draw control battle 11-6. The Gauchos kept getting stops throughout with either a save by Malkoswki or a trap and a take-away by the defense but eventually all the Bronco draw controls were enough possessions for Santa Clara to get back into the game. When they scored the Broncos got the next draw and had the ball again. Eventually even the best the UCSB defense has played all season wasn't enough in the face of all those possessions. Sophomore Melissa Hsu (Danville, CA) led UCSB in scoring with 3 goals. Malkowski finished with 12 saves for 60% on the 20 shots on goal by Santa Clara. The UCSB defense kept forcing bad shots by the Broncos and Malkoswki benefited immensely. Junior midfielder Kelsey Trepa (San Marcos, CA) caused 3 Santa Clara turnovers, had 4 ground balls, 1 draw control, 1 goal and 1 assist. Junior defender Cailan Howey (Charlotte, NC) had 3 caused turnovers and 3 ground balls. Santa Clara improved to 10-0 and is the most likely top seed in the WWLL Championship Tournament April 18 - 19 at UC San Diego. The Gauchos dropped to 8-7 overall and next play Arizona State University at 10:00am on Sunday in UCSB Harder Stadium. It is the final regular season game for UCSB and is the senior game for their lone senior, Molly Meek. The young Gauchos, who have now played games against eight teams ranked in the Top 20 at some point this season, seem to be peaking at the right time with the conference tournament coming in eight days.
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Santa Barbara, CA - The Gauchos took top ranked Santa Clara University to the wire in a one goal loss to the undefeated Broncos in UCSB Harder Stadium. The eighteenth ranked Gauchos jumped out to a three goal lead and led 4-2 at halftime with stifling defense and six first half saves from freshman Cyrena Malkowski (Lake Forest, CA). In the second half the Broncos caught and passed UCSB with a little less than 15 minutes remaining in the game. The Gauchos rallied late when down by three goals with three and a half minutes remaining by scoring two straight before eventually losing 7-8. Senior Molly Meek (Los Angeles, CA) scored on a free position with 50 seconds left in the game to get UCSB to within one goal.Copyright 2024 - UCSB Womens Lacrosse | Website by LaxTeams.net