UCSB Topples Third Seeded Georgia In 11-6 Upset
The Gauchos led the entire way, starting with an assisted goal by junior Blair Evans (Salinas, CA) on a pass from sophomore Lindsay Alex (Santa Ana, CA) just over two minutes into the game. UCSB scored the final goal of the game when freshman Nicole Rockwell (San Jose, CA) found freshman Claudia Hammerschmidt (Armonk, NY) open on the doorstep with 56 seconds remaining in the game on an extra player offense play. Hammerschmidt buried the lay-up and punctuated the UCSB effort of an entire game. Senior Katie Mitchell (Lafayette, CA) led all scorers with 4 goals. Mitchell scored an unassisted goal in the second half when she split a double team. The Gauchos were down a player after a penalty so Mitchell drew the double, split it, then put a nice spin move on the third defender before beating Georgia All-American and WCLA Goalie Of The Year Emily Seidel (Columbia, MD) with a low right corner placement shot. Alex led in points with 2 goals and 3 assists, one of her goals coming on a nice fake to move the goalie before shooting at the end of a fastbreak when Rockwell found her open in front of the net. Five UCSB players notched at least a goal. Between that first goal scored early and the last goal, that will help define this young UCSB team coming alive in the post-season, the Gauchos played their best game of the year so far with an enthusiasm that stymied the higher rated Bulldogs. Georgia made it close early when they tied it 2-2 but from that point on UCSB steadily pulled away, leading 6-4 at halftime, 8-6 with 20 minutes remaining in the game and then eventually 11-6. When it came time to finish the game outworking the other team the Gauchos responded with a ride that was partially responsible for UCSB holding Georgia to only two goals in the second half. The Bulldogs didn't score after they got an unassisted goal just past five minutes into the second half. The Gauchos held them scoreless over the final 25 minutes of play. A big part of that was senior Megan Hughes (Santa Ana, CA) having a career day in front of the UCSB goal. Hughes, non-plussed this entire tournament so far, had 6 second half saves to turn away the Georiga shooters and finished with 9 saves in the game. UCSB improved to 15-7 overall but more importantly advances to a national semifinal game. Georgia dropped to 16-4 overall with a five game winning streak broken by the Gauchos. UCSB will face BYU for the second time this season. The Gauchos held off a rallying Cougars team on February 14th to win 14-12 in Santa Barbara. BYU beat Santa Clara 18-6 in their quarterfinal game to advance to the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket Cal Poly SLO beat University of Texas 11-7 to advance to play Colorado State, 16-11 winners over University of Pittsburgh. WCLA Semifinals, Friday May 10th: 3:00pm - Cal Poly SLO (4) vs. Colorado State (1).
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Colorado Springs, CO - UCSB stayed on the upset path with an 11-6 win over 3rd seeded University of Georgia. It was a Copyright 2024 - UCSB Womens Lacrosse | Website by LaxTeams.net