Gauchos Ranked 4th in Pre-Season Poll, Moran Gets Nod as Pre-Season Player of the Year
Dec. 23, 2008 Baltimore, MD - Colorado State was picked first in the U.S. Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates Pre-Season Poll released by Lacrosse Magazine and UCSB was picked fourth. In-between them were Cal Poly SLO and Colorado, ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively. The order is the same as the results among the four teams at the WDIA National Championship Tournament in Denver last May. UCSB lost 12-11 in double  overtime to Cal Poly SLO in a national championship semifinal on May 9th in Denver. Colorado State won it all in an 8-5 overtime victory over Cal Poly SLO at Invesco Field / Mile High Stadium on May 10th. The Rams did it with some great goaltending from graduated senior Brooke Lewis and the strong midfield play of graduated senior Lindsay Brown, who was the WDIA Player-of-the-Year last season. Lewis was a three-time USL WDIA All-American in the cage. The Western Women's Lacrosse League (WWLL) had four teams ranked for the pre-season. Santa Clara was voted 7th and UCLA 11th.
UCSB senior midfielder Katie Moran was selected by reporters as the WDIA Pre-Season Player-of-the-Year. Moran, a two-time captain for the Gauchos and a First Team All-American as a junior, contributed 50 points to her team's offensive efforts last year with 32 goals and 18 assists. It was her midfield and defensive presence, though, that really boosted the Gauchos. Moran collected 60 draw controls, 58 ground balls and 58 caused turnovers while roaming the field.
"Free Safety is the best way I can describe Katie in simple terms," commented UCSB head coach Paul Ramsey. "She takes care of her responsibilities and then picks up everything else."
 The Gauchos return 5 starters and 8 players overall from their 2008 'A' team. The program also carries a 'B' Team. UCSB added 13 players to their 'A' Team roster for the 2009 season to increase the team size from the 17 players carried in 2008 to 21 players for 2009. Eight of the 13 new players are freshmen while 5 players were moved up from the 2008 'B' Team.
Ramsey, who is also the commissioner for the WWLL, doesn't believe the order the voters selected for the teams for the pre-season poll is going to be where all the teams shake out the first few weeks of the season. "CSU lost a lot of players while Cal Poly SLO returns a lot of players," said Ramsey after seeing the Lacrosse Magazine On-Line article. "I suppose it's standard to pick the defending champs first until they lose but CSU has some big holes to fill while Cal Poly does not."
"We're young but I like our chances to be right in there by the end of the season," added Ramsey. "The WWLL is among the strongest conferences in the country. Just getting through our regular season schedule prepares us for the post-season."
The 2009 USL WDIA National Championship Tournament is May 6 - 9 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Click here for the complete Lacrosse Magazine On-Line article with a list of all eleven national pre-season rankings for NCAA, IA and Junior College teams.
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