Westminster 18, Davenport 12
No. 7 Cal Poly 15, No. 11 Georgia 9
Denver Club 12, No. 19 Pittsburgh 11
No. 2 UCSB 15, No. 9 Lindenwood 14
No. 10 UCLA 12, No. 5 Michigan 9
SBCC 17, Marymount 3
No. 4 Santa Clara 15, Pittsburgh 4
No. 6 Florida Club 8, No. 16 BYU 6
Denver Club 17, Arizona Club 12
Chapman 12, Davenport 4
Santa Barbara City College defeated Marymount 17-3 in the first game between community colleges west of the Mississippi, highlighting day one of the Santa Barbara Shootout.
The event, featuring 95 teams across three divisions in 48 games, began Friday. It includes 30 teams in the expanded US Lacrosse WDIA division, making it the largest WDIA event this side of Nationals.
In Friday’s signature matchup, No. 6-ranked Florida Club nipped No. 8-ranked Colorado State in overtime, 10-9. The Gators then improved to 5-0 on the season by later holding off No. 16 BYU, 8-6.
In another top-10 matchup, No. 2 UCSB edged No. 9 Lindenwood, 15-14, at La Playa Stadium.
No. 7-ranked Cal Poly, the one-time dynasty playing under new coach Robert Novorolsky and eying a return to the top of the WDIA ranks, defeated No. 11-ranked Georgia, 15-9.
Friday also featured the first upset of the Santa Barbara Shootout, as unranked Denver Club toppled No. 19-ranked Pittsburgh, 12-11. Pitt also lost to No. 4 Santa Clara. The other upset was No. 10 UCLA downing No. 5 Michigan, 12-9.
In another game featuring teams ranked in Lacrosse Magazine’s top 20 preseason poll, No. 3 Colorado trumped No. 12 Texas, 13-8.
University of Denver women’s lacrosse senior midfielder Lexi Sanders (Greenwood Village, Colo.) recorded a hat trick and sophomore midfielder Lauren Ciccomascolo (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) had three assists, but the Pioneers were defeated 16-6 by No. 5 Duke on Friday afternoon.
After Duke (1-0) scored an early goal, sophomore defender Melissa Maier (Farmingdale, N.Y.) evened up the score for the Pioneers (1-1, 1-0 MPSF) off a pass from Ciccomascolo at the 24:55 mark in the first half.
The Blue Devils responded with three-straight goals before Sanders scored her first goal of the game with 15:36 remaining in the first half.
Duke ended he half on a 5-1 run, broken only by a goal from freshman midfielder Kirsty Faulder (Glengowrie, South Australia).
Sanders opened the second half with a free position goal less than three minutes after the break.
Following a pair of Duke goals, senior midfielder Ali Flury (Arnold, Md.) scored at the 23:33 mark to extend her streak to 53 consecutive games with a point, the second-longest such streak in the nation.
Sanders scored DU’s final goal on another free position shot at 7:58, but Duke finished the contest on a 5-1 run.
The Pioneers conclude their road trip at North Carolina on Sun., Feb. 14 at 11 a.m. MT.
T.J. Fiorillo takes an inside look at the upcoming season for the Rutgers Men’s Lacrosse Team. Player interviews, schedule information, as well as a bit about the newly formed BIG EAST Lacrosse Conference.
COMING out of Novato High, Tai Sing Hee had his choice between a pair of Dominicans.
The standout football and lacrosse player was offered similar partial scholarships to play lacrosse by both Dominican College in Orangeburg, N.Y., and Dominican University in San Rafael.
In the end, Hee could not bring himself to leave California’s warm climes for New York’s chilly winter weather, choosing to stay local and join the largest recruiting class in Dominican lacrosse history.
Dominican University Lacrosse player Tai Sing Hee photographed on the Dominican University Lacrosse field in San Rafael, Calif. on Thursday, February 11, 2010. Tai Sing Hee, a former standout on the Novato High football and lacrosse teams, is set to start for the Dominican University lacrosse team as a defenseman as the Penguins embark on their first NCAA Division II season. Coach Ned Webster says Hee is a perfect example of the kind of recruit Dominican is attracting as one of only three schools in California with NCAA lacrosse - a high caliber player who did not want to go far away to play. For Season preview on the Dominican men's lacrosse team. (Special to the IJ/Douglas Zimmerman)
With the Penguins slated to start their season Sunday in San Rafael against Colorado College, Hee’s story is a local case in point for a larger trend spurred by Dominican’s transition to NCAA Division II. As one of just three men’s lacrosse programs in California, the Penguins are beginning to attract high-caliber prep athletes who, like Hee, may not want to leave their home state to play lacrosse. Many of those recruits, including Hee, will be on the field when Dominican debuts as a D-II squad Sunday.
Of the 25 players on the Penguins’ roster, 22 hail from California, with one from the East Coast, one from Oregon and another from Idaho.
Head coach Ned Webster said he sells Dominican – independent of any conference since most Pacific West Conference schools do not have lacrosse teams – as a solid alternative for West Coast standouts who don’t want to travel across the country to play, and more and more recruits are buying in.
“Now we’re one of three NCAA programs in the state so it’s more attractive for West Coast players that don’t want to go back to the snow and cold weather,” said Webster, in his fifth year at Dominican. “We brought in some freshmen and a lot of them were captains of their high school team, all-league players, and next year’s class is going to be even stronger.”
Date
Opponent
Result
2/14
COLORADO COLLEGE
12:00
pm
2/20
NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR
2:00
pm
2/28
SOUTHWESTERN
1:00
pm
3/07
vs. Dominican C.
1:00
pm
3/09
at Molloy
4:00
pm
3/11
at Adelphi
4:00
pm
3/13
at Mercy
12:00
pm
3/21
GRAND CANYON
1:00
pm
4/10
at Notre Dame de Namur
2:00
pm
4/16
GRAND CANYON
4:00
pm
4/18
WESTMINSTER
1:00
pm
Coach: Ned Webster
Among those recruits whom Webster expects to see a large amount of field time is Jim Little, a quick, shifty attackman who lives up to his surname at 5 feet, 6 inches and 145 pounds. Freshman midfielder Cam Evangelho boasts a shot that tops 90 miles per hour, and Zach Rodriguez is also expected to contribute on offense, as are returners Reed Upson and team captain Joey Sullivan.
Webster said the young offensive players still need some development and he anticipates the offense to slowly round into form while the team’s defense keeps the Penguins in games. Freshman goalie Sam Darrow will start in net with Ryan Williams also an adequate keeper, while new sophomore Cory Whelan joins returning sophomore Ben Wang on the backline.
Rounding out the starting defense is Hee, invaluable to Webster and Dominican because of his athleticism and versatility.
“My role on the team is basically to be able to shut down the opposing team’s top midfielder,” Hee said. “I need to be a good player on the wing, on the faceoff, and work at picking up ground balls and getting the ball to the offense. Another thing we do is start the transition game.”
While Hee helps Dominican transition from defense to attack, the Penguins hope to make a smooth transition to NCAA. They started the process last year during a 5-7 season, going 0-4 against NCAA teams.
While Dominican’s 15-man roster was overmatched last year, the Penguins expect the experience to pay dividends as they take on nine NCAA opponents in 2010.
“I think it’s definitely going to help us because, unlike most of the teams at Dominican, we’ve played almost everybody on our schedule already, (some) more than once,” Sullivan said. “We got some experience playing against the high-caliber lacrosse played at the D-II level, so that’s going to help us because we know what to expect.”
The highlight of Dominican’s schedule is a trip in March to Long Island in New York, where the Penguins will take on Molloy College, Adelphi University and Mercy College after an opening bout with none other than Dominican College.
For Hee, the weeklong getaway back East offers all the time away from home the freshman defender needs.
“That’ll be a good experience to get to get out and see New York and play some good teams,” Hee said. “To leave California and see something new will be a good experience overall.”
Dominican was blown out by Molloy a year ago, so Webster intends to use that game, and the East Coast swing in general, as a barometer of how far his returning players have come since last season, and how much of an impact all the recruits can have on the fledgling NCAA program.
“I’m excited to see how much progress we’ve made in just a year’s time,” Webster said.
Santa Barbara City College defeated Marymount 17-3 in the first game between community colleges west of the Mississippi, highlighting day one of the Santa Barbara Shootout.
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