UCSB Advances to Quarterfinals with 18-4 Win Over Oregon
UCSB utilized 6 reserves during the first half to keep everyone fresh in the strong Arizona sun. It was 99 degrees on the field at the start of the 5:00pm game. The early subbing paid off and the Gauchos scored 5 unanswered goals to start the second half and take a 13-2 lead only 7 minutes into the second half. From there UCSB slowly cleared the bench and subbed everyone into the contest. The final result was the Gauchos outscoring the Ducks 5-2 over the last 20 minutes of play with 10 of 11 field player spots filled with reserves. "We put two good halves together and had a strong second half while also using all 22 players who are on the trip," said UCSB head coach Paul Ramsey after the game. "That's been a goal here at Nationals now for a while and it's the first time in my three years we've been able to do it." The UCSB defense didn't allow a goal from the field as Oregon was only able to score on 8 meter penalty shots. The defense being able to mark tightly and slide to help when necessary is a good sign for the Gauchos. Sophomore goal keeper Jeni Centner (Tustin, CA) had 4 saves while freshman midfielder Katie Mitchell (Lafayette, CA) continued her ground ball rampage. Mitchell had 8 ground balls. Coupled with the 10 ground balls she had in the last UCSB outing, a 12-6 loss to top ranked Santa Clara in the WWLL Championship game, it gives her 18 ground balls in the last 2 games. Mitchell also had 4 goals in 5 shots, 1 assist, 2 draw controls and 3 caused turnovers offset by only 1 turnover.
UCSB improved to 14-3 overall and 13-3 in the WDIA. More importantly, the Gauchos advance to a quarterfinal game with Colorado State at 8pm on Thursday. Eleventh seeded CSU dispatched 6th seeded Virginia Tech 14-7. That game was a matchup of the two most recent national champions. CSU won it in 2008 and the club from Virginia Tech won it in 2009. Oregon dropped to 12-3 and faces Virginia Tech in the start of play in the 9th - 16th place bracket. "This was a great way to start the tournament," added Ramsey, "but Maggie said it best after the game." Referring to one of the UCSB Captains, Maggie Aker, Ramsey passed on what she said. "She advised everyone to take a few hours to enjoy this result but center themselves and refocus on the next game by the time we finish dinner and get back to the hotel." The WDIA National Championship Tournament is four consecutive days of play with a game a day on every team's schedule. Squads don't have the luxury of days between games to come back around to the task at hand. It's about 24 hours and then go again. "Maggie is right," concluded Ramsey. "We can be pleased but we can't be giddy or assume it's just going to happen for us again without some focus so we have to move on more quickly than might be natural." All four WWLL teams advanced today. Top seed Santa Clara beat 16th seeded West Chester 13-7, 4th seed UC Davis beat 13th seed Boston College 20-8 and 6th seed Cal Poly SLO beat 12th seed Texas 9-6. At least one WWLL team will be eliminated tomorrow when UC Davis faces Cal Poly SLO in their quarterfinal game at 8:30pm. Lacrosse Magazine On-Line Coverage
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Scottsdale, AZ - The Gauchos dispatched the club from the University of Oregon with a solid performance in an 18-4 win in a first round game at the USL WDIA National Championship Tournament. UCSB took a 6-0 lead in the first 11 minutes of the game before the 21st ranked Ducks scored on an 8 meter free position opportunity. The 4th ranked Gauchos scored 2 more goals before Oregon was awarded another foul on a scoring play and converted to close it to 8-2 about 1 minute before halftime. UCSB took 3 shots in the closing minute but Oregon freshman goal keeper Evan Goldsmith (Portland, OR) turned away 2 of them and 1 went wide. The Gauchos outshot Oregon 37-10 overall.
Eight different UCSB players tallied points in the game on either goals or assists. Ashley Antoon-Algieri (San Ramon, CA) had 4 goals and 1 assist to tie Mitchell with game high scoring honors. The All-American midfielder was close behind Mitchell with 7 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers and 2 ground balls with no turnovers.Copyright 2024 - UCSB Womens Lacrosse | Website by LaxTeams.net