Santa Barbara, CA - The UCSB women's lacrosse fall ball schedule was released today and includes three play-days, a matchup with Cal Poly SLO on UCSB Family Weekend, the program's annual alumni game and the UCSB 3 v. 3 Tournament capping off six weeks of non-traditional season action. The Gauchos start off the fall competition schedule hosting the second annual Santa Barbara Fall Play-Day on Sunday, October 18th. College programs attending include UCSB, the WDIA programs from UCLA, Cal Poly SLO and Oregon as well as NCAA DIII University of Redlands. The play-day also has divisions for middle school and high school travel clubs. The high school division includes BearLax (the UC Berkeley coaching staff's elite travel club team), Blue Dog Lax, S&D Lax and Team OC so far. The middle school division has BearLax and Team OC at the front end of the registration process and there's room for at least two more middle school teams.

UCSB takes to the road the next weekend to play at St. Mary's College and will scrimmage UC Berkeley and St. Mary's on Saturday, October 24th. The format includes the teams running some joint drills and controlled situations against each other as well as scrimmaging. UC Berkeley were the MPSF Championship Tournament runners-up in 2009, losing 18-13 to 13th ranked Stanford in the championship game. Following training and scrimmaging the teams and families will tailgate / picnic together. The next day the Gauchos will be at the Davis Play-Day at UC Davis. The schedule for that has yet to be released but UCSB should pick up three shortened scrimmages against NCAA opponents at the Davis Play-Day.

When the Gauchos get home from Davis they will take the entire week off from practicing and have a BYE weekend from games. "It's midterm week for most classes at UCSB and it's Halloween that weekend," comments head coach Paul Ramsey, "so it's a great time to take a week off."

Following the BYE week UCSB takes on rival Cal Poly SLO in a double header at 11am and 1pm on Saturday, November 7th, during UCSB Family Weekend. It's the first fall matchup between these two programs in recent history. "Outcomes between us have been 1 or 2 goal decisions the last four times we've played over the last two years so this will be an intense set of games in front of all of our team family members," says Ramsey.

Fall Ball at UCSB always includes the annual alumni game the second Saturday of November and that's true this year too. The Gauchos will take on their alumni in a 2pm game on November 14th. Wrapping up the fall season at the end of the sixth week of action is the UCSB 3 v. 3 Tournament. All the UCSB players split up into teams of 5 or 6 players each to compete against each other and multiple teams from all over California in the Open Division. This event also has a High School division.

UCSB returns 10 starters and 15 players overall from it's 'A' Team. The Gauchos return 11 starters and 20 players overall from it's 'B' Team. They also have a class of 14 freshmen already declaring they're coming out for the team. It quite possibly could be the strongest UCSB team of this decade and now it has a fall schedule to match.

"We're testing ourselves this fall with scrimmages against the best teams we could find who will play us," says Ramsey. "With all these experienced players returning it's going to be beneficial for us to get all this early action against these top WDIA teams and NCAA teams."

By Brent MacDonald

Season openers are often the most exciting games for a team, especially when the match is held on a home field. For UCSB women’s lacrosse, the anticipation about its home opener has been felt for months.

“Practicing is super fun but it’s no comparison to an actual game,” said Ashley Antoon-Algieri, senior attack for UCSB. “When all the adrenaline is pumping through you it’s exciting.”

UCSB women’s lacrosse began its season Saturday with a home match against Claremont College. Prior to the game, UCSB’s record against Claremont was an undefeated 3-0 over the past three years, with each of the three wins coming by a margin of two goals. Claremont College women’s lacrosse is a Division 3 athletic team, which means it is both school sponsored and nationally ranked. These are two qualities that UCSB women’s lacrosse lacks, yet neither of which had an effect on the outcome of the game.

“Worst case, we lose to a great opponent,” Antoon-Algieri said before the game. “Best case, we strut our stuff and we win.”

It was the first official match of the season for UCSB, as the only competition the team has seen thus far was an alumni game during fall quarter in November and inter-squad scrimmages during practice.

UCSB was dominant throughout the match, beating Claremont by a score of 21-11. Nine players scored at least once for the Gauchos, and Antoon-Algieri led the team with five goals and five assists. Junior Maegan Cruse scored five goals as well, in addition to three assists.

“It always helps to start with a big win,” Antoon-Algieri said after the game. “We were focused and we had a lot of fun.”

A new addition to UCSB’s practices has been a rigorous strength-training regimen, implemented in one-hour sessions during two practices per week. The training program has already shown improvement in many players, and the team looks forward to exploiting the benefits of the hard workouts.

“If you train slow you’ll be slow, if you train fast you’ll be fast. The way you train is the way you play,” junior defender Courtney Choi said. “A lot of girls have been pushing themselves a lot harder and it’s showing.”

The game against Claremont was the first of four games leading up to the annual Santa Barbara Shootout, which is scheduled for the weekend of February 18-20. A record 64 teams will participate in the 23^rd annual event, which will bring over 2,500 athletes, coaches, referees and family members to the sunny setting of Santa Barbara.

“It’s a lot of great players in one spot,” Antoon-Algieri said. “It’s our favorite tournament of the year and a great venue - a lot of girls enjoy it.”

Both the weeks leading up to the tournament and the shootout itself will provide UCSB with the game time experience that it has been training for since fall quarter. However national championship games won’t be played for months, and the Gauchos know that the game against Claremont is only the beginning of a long season.

“We’re preparing ourselves for more competition,” Choi said. “We need to focus on each game before moving to the next one.”

UCSB Women's Lacrosse Homepage

 

By Brent MacDonald

UCSB Women’s Lacrosse finished the annual Santa Barbara Shootout with an even record of 2-2 this past weekend. Wins came against University of Michigan and Lindenwood University, while the Gauchos lost to women’s club teams from University of Pittsburgh and University of Florida.

“We communicated with each other a lot this weekend,” junior Courtney Choi said. “It’s something we practice everyday and we took it to the field this weekend.”

The tournament opener for UCSB against Michigan was played amidst a torrential downpour of rain, the first of its kind during a women’s lacrosse game this year.

“It was really intense,” Choi said. “There was so much wind…[we played] mind over body and pushed through it. It was a fun game.”

UCSB gained an 8-5 lead at the half, and continued its offensive play throughout the second period. The Gauchos outscored Michigan 3-1 in the final ten minutes of the game with two of its players sitting out due to yellow card violations given during the first half.

“We changed up our attack,” Choi said. “We were still able to get those goals with two less people on the field.”

The second game of the tournament for UCSB was played against Pittsburgh, which had lost its first game of the shootout against BYU. The Gauchos trailed Pittsburgh by one goal at halftime, and saw the lead increase to 7-3 with just twelve minutes remaining. UCSB went on a 4-0 scoring run in the final minutes to push the game to overtime.

With 13 seconds remaining in the extra period, Pittsburgh scored the goal to ensure its victory.

“Overtime is always really difficult,” senior Ashley Antoon-Algieri said. “Our offense wasn’t playing the way they usually do. We needed like five more minutes to come back.”

UCSB’s third game ended with a loss against Florida University. Florida was only up 6-5 against the Gauchos at the half, but went on to outscore UCSB 6-2 in the second period for a final victory of 11-7.

“Florida controlled the ball the whole game,” Antoon-Algieri said. “They’d get it on offense, calm it down and score a really nice goal. We weren’t in the game.”

The Shootout came to an end for UCSB when it faced off against Lindenwood University in both team’s final games of the tournament. Both Lindenwood and UCSB were equally balanced throughout the game as each team took 18 shots on goal. A five-goal run in the first half gave the Gauchos a 7-6 lead at halftime. Another scoring spree anchored a 4-1 run for UCSB in the second period, and finished the game with an 11-7 victory.

Beating Lindenwood allowed UCSB to finish the tournament without going on a three-game losing streak, and served as an important part of the team’s motivation for the season.

“Those two [losses] were our wake-up call,” Antoon-Algieri said. “It’s good to lose early [in the season] and have that wake-up call. We walked off the field satisfied with that last game.”

UCSB will return to the practice field for the remainder of the week in preparation for its game against visiting John Fisher College next Monday February 28 at 12:30 pm on Storke Fields.

By Brent MacDonald

Season openers are often one of the most exciting games for a team, especially when the match is held on a home field. For UCSB women’s lacrosse, the anticipation about its home opener has been felt for months.

“Practicing is super fun…but it’s no comparison to an actual game,” senior attack Ashley Antoon-Algieri said. “When all the adrenaline is pumping through you…it’s exciting.”

Gaucho women’s lacrosse began its season this Saturday with a home match against Claremont College. Prior to the game, UCSB’s record against Claremont was an undefeated 3-0 over the past three years, with each of the three wins coming by a margin of two goals. Claremont College women’s lacrosse is a Division 3 athletic team, which means it is both school sponsored, and nationally ranked. These are two qualities that UCSB women’s lacrosse lacks, yet neither of which had an effect on the outcome of the game.

“Worst case, we lose to a great opponent,” Antoon-Algieri said before the game. “Best case, we strut our stuff and we win.”

It was the first official match of the season for UCSB, as the only competition the team has seen thus far has been an alumni game during fall quarter in November, and inter-squad scrimmages during practice.

UCSB was dominant throughout the match, beating Claremont by a score of 21-11. Nine players scored at least once for the Gauchos, and Antoon-Algieri led the team with five goals and five assists. Junior Maegan Cruse scored five goals as well, in addition to three assists.

“It always helps to start with a big win,” Antoon-Algieri said after the game. “We were focused and we had a lot of fun.”

A new addition to UCSB’s practices has been a rigorous strength-training regimen, implemented in one-hour sessions during two practices per week. The training program has already shown improvement in many players, and the team looks forward to exploiting the benefits of the hard workouts.

“If you train slow you’ll be slow, if you train fast you’ll be fast. The way you train is the way you play,” junior defender Courtney Choi said. “A lot of girls have been pushing themselves a lot harder and it’s showing.”

The game against Claremont was the first of four games leading up to the annual Santa Barbara Shootout, which is scheduled for the weekend of February 18-20. A record 64 teams will participate in the 23^rd annual event, which will bring over 2,500 athletes, coaches, referees and family members to the sunny setting of Santa Barbara.

“It’s a lot of great players in one spot,” Antoon-Algieri said. “It’s our favorite tournament of the year…it’s a great venue and a lot of girls enjoy it.”

Both the weeks leading up to the tournament and the shootout itself will provide UCSB with the game time experience that it has been training for since fall quarter. However national championship games won’t be played for months,

and the Gauchos know that the game against Claremont is only the beginning of a long season.

“We’re preparing ourselves for more competition,” Choi said. “We need to focus on each game before moving to the next one.”

 

Written by Rochelle Farnum

During October 29 – 31, the Women’s Lacrosse Sport Club team headed west to the 20^th Annual Lacrosse Tournament in Waikiki, HI where they earned third place in the Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational.

Playing against teams from both Japan and Canada, the Gauchos proved to be a dominant force despite a variety of competitors. Even with just a short time together, junior Meagan Cruse, team Captain and attack player, commented on their cohesion as a team, “We are still in Fall Ball getting to know each other, but we played as a team that has been working together for years.”

The Women’s Lacrosse team faced their biggest challenge during their third game against the Wahine Lacrosse team, which was stacked with some of the most experienced players of the tournament.

“The Hawaii team was filled with ex-team US, Northwestern and Navy Academy players,” Maegan said. “We knew they were the most competitive team at the tournament.”

After falling behind a going into half time, the team was at a crossroad, left to make a choice.

“We had a choice to keep playing as we were, or to step-up our game and play at their level,” she said. “We chose the opportunity to play competitively. After the half, we scored three consecutive goals, and just fell short during sudden death. It was a great showcase of teamwork and athleticism.”

Although the team fell short in their third game, they left the tournament on a win against West Coast Force, a team made up of college alumni and city college players from Santa Barbara and southern California. With a successful tournament, the team looks toward season with high hopes and motivation.

“I was very impressed and proud of all the girls,” Maegan said. “After this tournament, I feel that we’re going into season excited, driven, and set on winning the Women’s Lacrosse first ever National title."

By Ben Chodos

The UCSB women’s club lacrosse team plays their final home game of the regular season against the San Diego State University Aztecs this Sunday at 10 AM.

The Gauchos have enjoyed a successful season thus far, and have yet to lose in Western Women’s Lacrosse League (WWLL) Central Division play.  They are 4-0 in division games and 10-6 on the season. The Gauchos hope to end the regular season on a high note before hosting the WWLL Championships on April 16-17.

The Aztecs have also had a productive season, going 3-1 in WWLL South Division games, earning them a first place spot in the standings.

Both teams have already qualified for the WWLL Championships, but will be fighting to improve their seed in the tournament.

Sunday’s game is a designated Senior Game, providing added motivation for the Gauchos.

“It’s a great way to honor our two seniors [Ashley Antoon-Algieri and Alyssa Nelsen] during our last regular season home game,” head coach Paul Ramsey said.

With an emotional game for the seniors and an opportunity to build momentum going into the postseason, Ramsey wants his team maintain their fast, aggressive play that has contributed to their success.

“We would like to play a fast, up-tempo, going-for-it, style of play this game because that is what will be needed to do well [for] the rest of the season,” Ramsey said.

The Gauchos are in an excellent position for a lengthy postseason campaign.  When asked about his expectations for this season, Ramsey simply answered, “to play the best lacrosse we can.”

By Ben Chodos

Coming off a resounding win against San Diego State last week, UCSB women’s lacrosse is set to compete in the Western Women’s Lacrosse League Championships (WWLL). Starting Saturday, the championship games are on Gaucho territory this weekend in Santa Barbara.

The Gauchos earned an automatic bid into the playoffs by winning the WWLL Central Division and are seeded No. 3 in the tournament.  They open play on Saturday at 10 AM on Storke Field against No. 6 seeded Cal, who went 2-2 in WWLL North Division play and finished third.

The level of competition in this year’s tournament is high, with six of the eight teams currently ranked in the nation’s top 20. The Gauchos will not be intimidated by their opponents’ rankings, as 11 of their 18 regular season games were against the top 20 ranked teams.  The Gauchos have won five of their last seven games and are currently ranked No.7 nationally, while Cal is ranked No. 17.

If UCSB continues their winning ways and advances into the semifinals, they will meet the winner of Santa Clara (No. 2) and Arizona State (No. 7) on Saturday at 2 PM at Harder Stadium. Finals will take place the following day at 2 PM at Harder Stadium.

By Ben Chodos

UCSB club women’s lacrosse has added another item to their impressive résumé this season by finishing third in the Western Women’s Lacrosse League Championship Tournament.  The Gauchos opened tournament play with a convincing 21-14 win against Berkley.  The Gauchos then suffered a heartbreaking 13-12 loss to Santa Clara in the semifinals.  They responded the next day with 15-11 victory over Cal Poly in the third place game.  With the weekend’s impressive performance, the team has earned an at-large bid into the Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates National Championship on the weekend of May 4^th in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Baltimore, MD - Pre-season rankings by Lacrosse Magazine were released on December 29th for all associations and divisions of collegiate lacrosse. The Gauchos are ranked 7th in the 20 team U.S. Lacrosse Women's Collegiate Lacrosse  Associates (WCLA) Division One poll. Colorado State, two-time defending national champions, were selected as the top team. Six WWLL teams are ranked in the National Division One Top 20 and 4 WWLL Division Two teams are ranked in the Top 20 of their national poll.

The pre-season poll generally mirrors the finish of teams from the season before but, interestingly, the Gauchos were picked 7th despite advancing to the national semifinals last year. UCSB upset the club from the University of Florida 12-11 in overtime in the national quarterfinals. UCSB finished higher in the post-season than three teams deemed fitter by the pollsters for higher pre-season spots. UC Davis, Colorado and Florida were all eliminated in the quarterfinals while the Gauchos advanced. UC Davis and Colorado are ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively, while Florida is 6th. The only loss for UCSB in the regular bracket at the tournament was a 7-10 loss to eventual national champion Colorado State.

The Gauchos have 8 pre-season ranked teams on their schedule and 6 of them are in the Top 10. It's a schedule strong enough for a solid strength of scheduling rating at the end of the season. UCSB returns ten starters but the two players who have graduated leave open important roles that need to be filled. First Team All-American attacker Ashley Antoon-Algieri (San Ramon, CA) and left-handed midfield Alyssa Nelsen (Denver, CO) graduated.

The cupboard is not bare for UCSB, however. The Gauchos have four returning All-Americans.  They are senior attacker Maegan Cruse (San Diego, CA), senior goalie Jeni Centner (Tustin, CA), junior midfielder Katie Mitchell (Lafayette, CA) and junior defender Emilia Norlin (Mill Valley, CA).

U.S. Lacrosse WCLA Division I Pre-Season Poll *

1. Colorado State
2. UC Davis
3. Colorado
4. Santa Clara
5. UCLA
6. Florida Club
7. UC Santa Barbara
8. Cal Poly SLO
9. Michigan
10. Brigham Young
11. Georgia
12. Texas
13. Maryland Club
14. Pittsburgh
15. Virginia Tech Club
16. Boston College Club
17. Virginia Club
18. Washington
19. Arizona State
20. Central Florida

Preseason Player of the Year: Clayton Crum, University of Texas

* Teams in bold are on the UCSB regular season schedule.

For a complete listing of all pre-season polls please visit Lacrosse Magazine On-Line.