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Force Successful at the Santa Barbara Fall Brawl

Oct. 18, 2009

Santa Barbara, CA - West Coast Force, a first year travel club being run by UCSB head coach Paul Ramsey's East West Sports Camps company, took the field and finished 3-1 in their inaugural competition together, playing in the Santa Barbara Fall Brawl. UCSB is turning Santa Barbara into a great middle of the state place for teams to meet and now offers three major events a year for teams at the middle school, high school, collegiate and post-collegiate levels. The Gauchos host the Fall Brawl, the UCSB 3 v. 3 Tournament and the Santa Barbara Shootout.

The Force U-17 squad sorted things out for the first time on the field, without having practiced together and meeting in Santa Barbara from all points of California to play in the Fall Brawl. Former Pomona-Pitzer coach Brighde Dougherty guest coached the Force while Ramsey and UCSB assistant coach Jillian Boyd were busy coaching two UCSB teams entered into the Brawl. The Force came together well and eked out a 7-5 win over established S&D Lax of Sacramento & Davis. After a time slot off the Force rolled to a 20-3 win over Beach Head Lax of Redondo Beach. Then, in a game not originally on their schedule, the Force filled in for  an ailing team in a game against the U-17 Falcons of Scripps Ranch in San Diego and snuck out a come-from-behind 8-7 win. The Force erased a 2 goal deficit late in the game to get the win. The celebration was short, however, since the Force had to hustle two fields over to play the final game of their schedule without a rest break.

Finally, at the end of a long day, the Force playing in their fourth game of the day and in a tough back to back situation, fell to Team OC playing their third game of the day with a two hour rest break after their  8-7 win over S&D Lax. It was close at first but Team OC steadily pulled away to get a 13-6 victory over the Force.

Coach Dougherty summed it up after the day was over, "The girls came in as strangers, conquered the field and left as friends and more talented players."

Force midfielder Andrea Elwell, a Santa Margarita High School sophomore, walked off the field after the last game and despite the sting of the loss to Team OC being pretty fresh, told Dougherty the day was one of her most amazing lacrosse experiences ever, she loved her new teammates and expressed amazement at how well everything flowed.

Ramsey was pleased to be able to pull a team together for his first-time travel club venture but was even more pleased that it went 3-1. 

"This is good, really good," said Ramsey.  "The Force players are all UCSB recruits so it's fantastic they were so successful playing against established teams."

Scores from all the games may be found by clicking on Schedule & Results of the Fall Brawl page of the UCSB women's lacrosse website.

The West Coast Force next play in the Hawaii Lacrosse Tournament October 31st - November 1st in Waikiki. Two field players spots remain open to be filled by interested U-19 players. Contact  Paul Ramsey if you're interested in playing.