Lacrosse advances to WCLL Championships

The No. 5 Arizona men’s club lacrosse team took advantage of a favorable playoff matchup at home Saturday, defeating No. 24 Claremont in the Western Conference Lacrosse League quarterfinals at Murphey Stadium.

The Laxcats extended their winning streak to five games, trouncing the Cougars 16-7. With the win, Arizona advanced to the semifinals of the WCLL Championship.

The Laxcat offense has been clicking as of late. Arizona has averaged 16.6 goals during its win streak, up nearly four goals from its season average.

Attack Corey Smith led a balanced scoring effort with five points on four goals and an assist. Eight other Laxcats added to the scoreboard.

Attack Chase Sutton, who started in place of attack Greg Polheber, contributed to the win with five points on two goals and three assists. Attack Jason Gustafson also had five points on three goals and two assists while midfielder Shane Morrison scored three goals.

“”To tell you the truth, I think the team is playing extremely well,”” said Arizona associate head coach Mickey-Miles Felton. “”They’re doing whatever they have to do right now. The coaches are letting the players play the game. … We coach during the week and let the players make the plays on the weekend.””

Arizona play No. 7 Sonoma State in the semifinals Saturday in Orinda, Calif., where California will host the WCLL Championships.

“”I don’t think you can hold our team down three goals anymore,”” Felton said.

Arizona hasn’t won a WCLL title since 1990.

“”It’s time that we bring that trophy back to Arizona,”” Felton said.

Women’s rugby ends season

The No. 5-seeded Arizona women’s club rugby team’s best season in club history ended Saturday when it was eliminated from the Women’s Collegiate playoffs round of eight by No. 4-seeded Bowdoin College, 22-0, in Sanford, Fla., after entering the tournament ranked No. 1 in the Southern California Rugby Union.

Arizona sophomore Dawn Oakes said the final score is deceptive. Despite being defeated, Arizona held Bowdoin to the first round’s lowest score. All other advancing teams posted scores of 49 or higher.

Oakes said Arizona struggled with Bowdoin’s superior size throughout the game.

“”They were some really big girls,”” she said. “”East Coast rugby compared to West Coast rugby – generally a lot of the East Coast girls are a lot bigger, so we did really well to hold them off.””

However, Arizona tasted some measure of postseason success, knocking off College of Charleston 17-15 in Sunday’s consolation round.

Although it was a consolation match, the game determined the playoff seeding of next year’s Southern California champion.

Oakes said she was glad Arizona won the game because she feels her squad has a good chance of retuning to next year’s playoffs.

“”We’re losing a lot of seniors, but this last batch of rookies is a lot bigger than any we’ve had before,”” she said. “”People are actually coming out to see our games. We’re getting a pretty good cheering section, girls are interested. It looks like it’s going to be a good season next year.””

Ultimate team secures place in regionals

The Arizona men’s ultimate frisbee team went 5-0 Sunday at the Desert Sectionals held in Tempe, its first qualifying tournament for the Ultimate Players Association College Series.

The Sunburn’s A-squad torched a field of Southwestern squads, blanking Embry Riddle 13-0 and defeating New Mexico 13-6 and NAU 13-4. “”We came in good condition and prepared to play longer games than they did,”” said team vice president Henry Scharf. “”We had a bigger squad and a much deeper bench.””

In addition, the Sunburn cannibalized Arizona’s B-squad, 13-4.

The hosting Sun Devils proved to be the toughest competition, but Arizona prevailed by eking out a 10-8 victory over the home team in moderate wind. Team President Gabe Wigtail credited the victory to patience with the disc and tough defense.

With the win in the tournament, Arizona secured a place in the Southwest Open Regionals in Scottsdale May 5-6. The tournament will bring together the top 16 teams from Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.

“”We feel really good,”” Scharf said. “”We feel like we’re prepared to make a really good showing and we’re looking to finish as high as second and maybe even first if we have a really outstanding tournament.””

The winner of the tournament will advance to the 16-team College Series Championship May 25-27 in Columbus, Ohio.

Triathlon team finishes 19th at national championships

The Arizona triathlon team finished 19th out of 77 teams at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Champions in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The women Tricats placed 11th while the men’s team placed 29th. Senior Kyle Watson had the women’s best overall score, finishing 57th out of 329 athletes, also the highest finish of any Tricat.

Watson completed the Olympic distance Triathlon, a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40K bike ride and 10K run, with a time of 2:27:57. Cameron Green had the best men’s finish and the team’s best overall time, completing the race in 2:11:20.

Green said the finish was “”a big improvement”” over last year, when Arizona placed 24th out of 50 teams – solidly in the middle of the pack.

– compiled by Alex Dalenberg