Laxcats upset ASU in underdog role
The match was billed as a showdown of Arizona lacrosse powers.
No. 12 Arizona faced No. 4 ASU Saturday, the first time the Laxcats had played a Sun Devil squad ranked higher than themselves in their history.
All the ingredients were there: playoff implications, highly-ranked squads, and an intrastate rivalry.
The game at Murphey Stadium had everything, except suspense, as Arizona dominated the Sun Devils 17-10 while leading most of the game. By the fourth quarter the most intriguing aspect of the match was a sideshow in the stands, where frustrated ASU fans who had turned out in force exchanged trash talk with the jubilant Laxcat faithful.
Arizona head coach Ken Broschart admitted some surprise at the outcome.
“”I didn’t think it would be this lopsided,”” he said.
Defender Clayton Chu, celebrating with teammates after the victory, was not surprised at all. Chu had a simple explanation for the Laxcats’ win.
“”The reason why we beat ASU by so much is because we’re better than ASU,”” he said. “”We’re just better.””
Saturday, at least, Arizona was the better squad. The Laxcats owned the groundball war, dominating in shots taken by 22.
“”I think we really just had a great night,”” Broschart said. “”They were for the first time ranked ahead of us in 40 years, so that was a very big motivator for us.””
Standout attack Corey Smith, who filled up the stat sheet with four goals and one assist to lead the team in points, credited Broschart with leading the team to victory.
“”Our coach put together a great game plan,”” he said. “”Our defense just totally shut them down. Our coach just read them like a book.””
Attack Chase Sutton gave his own explanation: good old-fashioned practice.
“”We just came ready to play,”” he said. “”We had a huge week of practice, played great all week. Every day we gave it all to get better.””
While any victory is sweet, the Laxcats will be reaping tangible benefits from this one as soon as next weekend when the Western Conference Lacrosse League playoffs begin. By winning this game, Arizona earned the right to play Saturday’s quarterfinals game at home, against No. 24 Claremont at 1 p.m. at Murphey Stadium.
The Sun Devils now have to travel to California to face No. 10 Santa Barbara. If the Laxcats had dropped this game, their fortunes would have been reversed.
Women’s water polo takes 1st at conference championships
The No. 6 Arizona women’s water polo club team earned a berth Sunday in the National Collegiate Club Championships in Williamstown, Mass. The Wildcats defeated the competition at last weekend’s Southwest Division Championship to get its first chance at a national championship in seven years.
Arizona rolled through the tournament against Colorado State, Colorado, and the final against Utah by an average of 8.5 goals.
“”The first game against Colorado State it took us about a quarter to get warmed up,”” said head coach Emily Schmit. “”After that we didn’t look back. We just nailed every goal. The girls were really fired up and really excited and didn’t let up for a minute in any of the games.””
Schmit said she is confident that her team will stack up well against the best water polo clubs in the nation. Arizona will play as the No. 5 seed in a field of 16 teams at the National Championships, which will be held May 4-6.
“”I think that we can be very competitive,”” she said. “”We’re really excited to get a chance to play some teams that we haven’t played against before.””
“”We’re all looking forward to making that trip up to Massachusetts,”” she added.
The National Championships represent the finale to a memorable year for the squad. By securing the division crown, Arizona remains undefeated against its divisional club competition. The team’s only losses have come against varsity squads.
In the meantime, Schmit said its business as usual for the team.
“”It’s back to the pool (today),”” she said. We’ve been spending a lot of time expending energy so that we can get to nationals. Now we have to regroup and focus on going to nationals and doing well.””
Women’s rugby travels to Sanford
Arizona women’s rugby travels to Sanford, Fla., this weekend to participate in the USA Rugby Division II College Playoffs. Arizona opens pool play against Bowdoin College Saturday morning at 9:30. If the team wins its pool, it will advance to the USA Rugby Championships held in Stanford, Calif., May 4-5. Arizona women’s rugby is currently ranked No. 5 in the nation out of 80 women’s teams.
– compiled by Alex Dalenberg
