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5th Ranked Texas Surges Past UCSB In Second Half

Box Score

Apr. 7, 2013

Morgan Hill, CA - Sixth ranked UCSB was unusually quiet on offense in a national match-up with fifth ranked University of Texas in the final game at the Western States Tournament for both teams. The Longhorns held a slight edge on draw controls and shots but led 5-3 at halftime and won 11-5. Texas won 10 of the 18 draw controls and outshot UCSB 18-16. The big difference was the 11 of 18 shooting by the Longhorns compared to 5 of 16 shooting by the Gauchos.

Texas junior Tully Moorhead (Grapevine, TX) led all scorers with 4 unassisted goals and teammate Rachel English (Austin, TX) scored 3 unassisted goals. Five UCSB players scored but only notched one goal apiece. Senior goalie Jordan Cook (Cypress, TX) had 8 saves for the Longhorns.

The loss puts renewed emphasis on performance at the upcoming WWLL Championship Tournament. UCSB is hosting the 16 team event April 20th - 21st. The WWLL tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the WCLA National Championship Tournament May 8th - 11th in Colorado Springs. A top three finish in the conference tournament might result in an at-large selection but UCSB does not want to count on the at-large. With five losses coming at the hands of a range of teams that would win out on a head to head comparison it's a little dicey to leave it in the hands of a selection committee. The Gauchos have won three of the last five WWLL Championship Tournaments with the most recent title last year in the 2012 event.

UCSB has only four starters back from that 2012 team and puts eight fresh faces on the field to round out the starting twelve. Every reserve is new to play at this level as well. Regardless, the Gauchos were still ranked 6th nationally at the time of the game with Texas. UCSB has played top ranked Colorado State the closest of any team in the country, a 7-9 loss on February 16th.

"We have the talent," says UCSB head coach Paul Ramsey, "and when we execute we play great lacrosse.

"We are still trying to find some chemistry and if we find it we can put a run of seven games together that will eclipse anything ever accomplished here."

The Gauchos dropped to 10-5 overall while Texas improved to 10-5 overall. UCSB next plays when they host UC Santa Cruz on Saturday in a 2:00pm game at the UCSB Recreation Center Sports Complex stadium. It is the final regular season game for the Gauchos. The Longhorns are next at Southwestern University on Sunday.