The Vikings handily defeated the Santa Rosa Junior College Bear Cubs 13-2 last Saturday night at Viking Stadium.  But lacrosse was only the third item on the agenda. The American Cancer Society was on hand collecting $1,219 in donations at the door from the generous fans in attendance.  Then the evening's maint event began with the introduction of Lauren McCullough, a DVC student and All-American Viking swimmer who has been battling Ewing's Sarcoma since May.  Lauren spoke to the audience of over 300 people (the largest audience ever for a DVC lacrosse game) providing information about and challenges of the disease, how she has dealt with chemotherapy, and even made a little joke about her bald head.  She also invited people to follow her blog http://thenotdyinggirl.com/ which has documented her journey fighting the sarcoma.  As she spoke, the Vikings and BearCats listened intently around the large yellow circle at the center of the stadium, the Vikings in gold socks (gold being the color assocatiated with Ewing's), and players of both teams wearing donated shirts by Simply Selling Shirts, with the Ewings Sarcoma motto:  "Fight like a girl!  Fight - Defy - Win." After Lauren finished, Dean Wallahan presented Lauren with the #1 Viking Lacrosse jersey and made her an honorary captain for the game., and team President Devon Bahary presented her with a composite photo of the Viking Lacrosse team, a Viking lacrosse t-shirt, and her own "Fight Like a Girl..." shirt.    The players were very moved by her speech, and afterward both teams gathered at midfield and in the loudest break I have ever heard at DVC, shouted, "Lauren on three, Lauren on three, 1 -2 -3 LAUREN!"  The players, many of whom already follow her on her blog, then proceeded to line up in single file and personally thank, hug, and shake hands with Lauren.   She then went out with her fellow Vikings at midfield and participated in the coin toss.

After an event like this for their fellow student and athlete, the Vikings were not to be denied. They played with passion, grace, and commitment.  They intended to win this game for Lauren, and they did not disappoint her and the Viking fans in attendance. 

Special thanks for this event goes to Viking treasurer, Mathias Armstrong, who in large part organized this event, garnered the support of the Inter-Club Council (ICC) who funded this game and the decorations (1,000 feet of gold streams and 100 balloons), designed the event flyers, collaborated with other clubs to support the event, and along with Vice President, Brandon Hall painstakingly decorated the stadium.  Also, the Vikings are grateful to the Music Industry Studies who sponsored an amazing rendition of the national anthem and a great halftime show, and the Dance Club who performed beautifully between the third and fourth quarters.  The efforts of the Pan-African Student Union, Latino Student Alliance, and International Student Admissions & Services are also greatly appreciated for assisting in distributing flyers and urging their members to attend the game.

The Vikings came out of the gates hard and fast and never relented on their way to a 16-4 win over CJCLA rival, American River College.  The Vikings led 3-2 after the first quarter, in part owing to a tremendous effort on the part of the ARC Beavers.  After five unanswered goals in the second quarter, the Vikings mounted an 8-2 halftime lead.  The Vikings displayed some sloppy play in the third quarter before lighting up the scoreboard with seven goals in the final frame to secure the victory.

Next up:  Saturday, 11/23 vs. Santa Rosa Junior College and an American Cancer Society benefit game to support the desire of fellow athlete (swimmer), Lauren McCullough who is battling Ewing's sarcoma, to expand awareness about this disease.  The American Cancer Society will be at the door at this game collecting admissions donations of $5 for adult and $2 for students.  The pre-game ceremony for this event will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Upon entering the stadium for warm-ups last evening, Coach Dean Wallahan said, "This is going to be a close one!"  And after three minutes, he was dead on.  Even though the Vikings scored three quick goals, the reigning WCLL Division II UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs came storming back to score two quick goals of their own.  Three minutes into the game, there were five total goals, and the Vikings led 3-2.  After tense possessions by each team without further scoring, the Vikings exploded for three more goals and led 6-2 after the first quarter.  From that point on, Coach Wallahan proved to be dead wrong, as the Vikings extended their lead to 12-2 at the half, and then coasted in the second half with all players contributing toward the final outcome of 16-7.  The Vikings perhaps played their best game of the season with incredible unselfish play, with players looking to pass to the open player for easier goal opportunities.  At the game, Chris Tatro, head coach of University of Nevada, Reno, along with several of his staff members were scouting numerous DVC players.  When asked during the halftime interview, which, along with last night's game, can be viewed on http://www.ustream.tv/search?q=diablo+valley+college+athletics, which players he was scouting, Coach Tatro coyly declined to answer, but said any of DVC's players would be welcome to play for Nevada-Reno and given the quality of DVC's program which he has greatly admired over the last few years, all who transferred would likely contribute.  Former Vikings Jimmy Garcia and Scott Forer are currently on the WolfPack roster.

Next up:  a tough league game versus American River College on Thursday, November 14th at 7:15 p.m. at Viking Stadium

Viking lacrosse hosts the Banana Slugs for UC Santa Cruz tomorrow night at Viking Field.  Game time is 7:15 p.m.  The Slugs won the WCLL Division II Championship last year and will pose a considerable challenge to the Vikings.  Historically, the Vikings lead the series 3-1.  

On Saturday, November 23rd, Viking Lacrosse has organized a cancer benefit game. The American Cancer Society will be on hand to collect admissions donations at the door ($5 for adults, $2 for students of all ages) for this big game against the Vikings' CJCLA rival, Santa Rosa Junior College.  All admissions donations will go directly to the American Cancer Society.  Both the Bear Cubs and the Vikings will participate in a pre-game ceremony honoring not only those who have been victims of cancer, but also more specifically a current DVC student athlete whose courageous fight against this disease inspired Viking Lacrosse to create this event.  The ceremony will begin at 7:00 p.m., with the game to follow at approximately 7:15 p.m.  Please mark your calendars now, come for the cancer benefit and stay for the game, as both teams will no doubt play great, inspired lacrosse on this evening.

The Vikings returned to their winning ways Saturday night by way of outstanding defensive and goalie play, unselfishness and teamwork, and crisp passing and ball control.  Cuesta College, out of San Luis Obispo, a first year club lacrosse program played much better than the score would indicate.  Had the Cougars' not received such outstanding goalie play the score would have been much worse, as the Vikings created "look after look" for great shot opportunities.  Next up, UC Santa Cruz, the WCLL Division II champ last year, visits DVC on Saturday, November 9th in what will likely be a highly contested and exciting game.  Game time is 7:15 p.m.

The Vikings, playing with a split squad, couldn't wrestle a victory away from the MCLA D-1 teams it played at the UC Davis Tournament last Saturday.  Despite getting off to a 2-1 lead versus Cal Poly, the Mustangs shut out DVC the rest of the way for an easy 10-2 victory. In the second game, UC Davis fired off from the start scoring four goals in the first 5 minutes of the game, and then held the Vikings off for a 6-3 win.  In the final game for the A team, Santa Clara University defeated the Vikings 6-2.  On the bright side the Viking B team defeated UOP 7-4 in their first game before falling to the Cal Poly B team and Southern Oregon University.  The Vikings have licked their wounds and will come back home to play for the rest of the season, hosting Cuesta College next Saturday at Viking Field.