The No. 11 Arizona men’s club lacrosse team made its case for an at-large bid to the USLIA National Championships by beating the No. 4 UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos 9-6 on Saturday.

The Laxcats (9-4, 4-2 Western Collegiate Lacrosse League) stunned UCSB (7-4, 2-3) as they beat the Gauchos for the first time in six meetings over four years.

Arizona executed its game plan by holding the ball on offense and keeping UCSB from scoring close goals.

Senior goalie Charlie Salemi led the defensive charge in the Laxcats’ victory.

“”We had a lot of game tape on them, and we were definitely prepared,”” Salemi said. “”I just had to stay set and be ready for the fakes, and hopefully when they shot I was able to react to it.””

Arizona head coach Kenny Broschart was very happy with his team’s performance.

Prior to the game Broschart said he was worried his team would have trouble scoring against the Gauchos’ stingy defense, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday.

“”Our attack played incredible today,”” Broschart said. “”The guys really handled the pressure well today, and we came out with a win.””

Seven different players scored, including two goals each from senior attackmen Christian Burrows and Steve Luna.

Like always, senior close defender and defensive captain Carson Parmelee said that defense was also a big factor in the Laxcats’ win, as Arizona held a UCSB team that averages nine goals a game to only six.

“”We were able to play as a team,”” he said. “”They like to score close goals, and we were able to keep them out and make them beat us with their outside shot.””

With this critical win and after playing closely contested games against top-ranked opponents earlier in the year, the Laxcats’ confidence level is high.

“”This win proves that we belong at the top,”” Parmelee said. “”If we play hard and play our game plan, we can beat anybody.””

The momentum has come at the right time for the Laxcats, who appear to be on their way to playing in May.

“”We have pretty much punched our ticket to Dallas,”” Salemi said. “”National championships, here we come.””