Strong Second Half Propels Gauchos To Win At UCLA
UCSB was without the services of regular starters freshman Charlotte Brooks (Owings Mill, MD) on attack and senior Emila Norlin (Mill Valley, CA) on defense. Brooks, the second leading scorer for UCSB going into the game with 18 goals and 4 assists, suffered a scratched cornea from dirt in her eye during warm-ups and Norlin was out with a strained hamstring. The expected asbence on defense and the surprise absence on offense slowed UCSB only a little and resulted in other Gauchos getting opportunities. Seven UCSB players contributed to scoring on offense. UCSB senior Katie Mitchell (Lafayette, CA) led all scorers with 5 goals and 1 assist. Mitchell connected with freshman Amanda Shoemaker (Poway, CA) on the goal at 12:38 remaining in the game that put UCSB up 14-6. Shoemaker, getting her first start, had assisted Mitchell on the opening goal of the game in the first two minutes of play. Seven of twelve Gaucho goals from the field were assisted. The other four UCSB goals came on free position shots after UCLA fouls. The Gauchos could have worried about being down two starters and being short-handed but you wouldn't know it by the way they played in the second half. "The way we played in the second half was impressive regardless but even more so considering it took some mental toughness for everyone to play more minutes than normal and at some different positions," commented UCSB head coach Paul Ramsey. The goal keeper duo of freshman Morgan Ryan (Salt Lake City, UT) and senior Megan Hughes (Tustin, CA) continued to split time in the cage for UCSB. Ryan had 5 saves in the first half and Hughes had 6 saves in the second half. Three Gauchos had four ground balls apiece to tie for honors in that category. Senior Blair Evans (Salinas, CA), freshman Claudia Hammerschmidt (Armonk, NY) and freshman Cailan Howey (Charlotte, NC) racked up 12 ground balls among them. UCSB improved to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in WWLL Central with the win. UCLA dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-1 WWLL Central. The Gauchos rest is overnight as they host Arizona State (3-3) in a home game on Sunday at 11:00am at the UCSB Recreation Center Sports Complex stadium.
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Los Angeles, CA - UCSB took to the road for the short trip to Westwood and picked up a win over the 11th ranked Bruins. The Gauchos held UCLA to one second half goal enroute to a 16-7 win in a Western Women's Lacrosse League central region game. UCSB led 9-6 at halftime and opened the second half with a five goal run to take a 14-6 lead with about 12 minutes left in the game. UCLA, ranked 11th in the pre-season poll, scored unassisted to get within 7 goals. Then the Gauchos closed out the game scoring two more in a slowed down offense for the final 9 goal margin of victory.Copyright 2024 - UCSB Womens Lacrosse | Website by LaxTeams.net