Apr. 13th, 2003 - No. 24 UCSD upsets No. 8 Arizona 10-6
By Woo-Jin ShimWCLL Correspondent
San Diego, CA – In a showdown for the third seed in the WCLL South A Division playoffs, the 24th ranked UCSD Tritons prevailed over the 8th ranked Arizona Wildcats 10-6.
UCSD's freshman Nick Dean led the Tritons with six points (two goals and four assists), to give the Tritons a crucial victory over the Wildcats.
The two teams came out fired up with UCSD seeming to have the upper hand as the Tritons were playing in front of a rowdy home crowd that exceeded over 300 fans at the RIMAC center.
In the beginning of the game, the large crowd seemed to have very little effect on the Wildcats. By winning all six of their face-off opportunities of the first quarter, Arizona completely dominated ball possession for the first five minutes of the contest. The Wildcats took an early 2-0 lead on a beautiful split dodge by midfielder Ryan McFadden with 12:24 remaining in the quarter.
But Arizona's good fortunes ran out quickly. From the 9:15 mark in the first quarter, the Wildcats went on to a penalty filled quarter. Arizona was flagged for a total of seven penalties (including a two-man down situation in the second quarter) in the first half.
Having played man-down for almost eight minutes in first half, the Wildcats never regained the momentum that helped them look so dominant in the early goings. With their defense on its heel, the offense did nothing to help their tired defense by making costly turnovers and ill-advised passes. Dean and the rest of the Tritons took advantage of Arizona's misfortunes as the Tritons rallied back with three goals in the first quarter and four goals in the second quarter to take a 7-4 lead going into halftime.
The final two quarters turned into a defensive battle. Arizona's senior defenseman Jeff Kinsella and the Wildcats' defense kept one of WCLL's top attack trio in check while UCSD's new netminder Jody Hochstein made six point blanks saves in the third quarter. Hochstein, a Maryland native, had just transferred to UCSD this quarter and gained eligibility clearance from league officials this past Wednesday.
Even with their offense having trouble possessing the ball, Arizona's defense was able to hold the Tritons from gaining no more than a four goal lead. Moore scored on a man-up opportunity with 23 seconds remaining in the third quarter to go into the final quarter with the Wildcats trailing 8-5.
But similar to their recent losses against UCSB, Colorado, Cal, and Chapman, the Wildcats could not escape their fourth quarter woes.
Despite receiving a stellar performance from their defense, the Wildcats' offense seemed to have trouble creating open shots for Locheridge, Moore, and McFadden. Defenseman Chris Washington and the Tritons' defense held a talented Wilcats' offense to just one goal in the final quarter.
"Our new goalie (Jody Hochstein) stepped up for us today," said Washington. "Even though this was his first start of the year, he took charge in the net and the rest of the defense responded."
With 4:05 remaining in the game, UCSD's Ross Stensrud scored on a bull dodge from the bottom left corner to cement the victory for the Tritons.
"We received a strong all-around effort from everyone on the team," explained Stensrud. "I believe this is the first game in this season that we were able to put together four quarters of quality lacrosse. I think this game showed that we could compete with anyone in the USLIA."
Playing in front of large home crowd, the Tritons never gave up the momentum that they gained since middle of the first quarter.
"Every player played their heart out today," said UCSD head coach Ed Jeziorski. "This game truly showed the character of this team. We also have great fan support here at UCSD. The fans helped us out a great deal against a very talented Arizona squad."
Echoing his coach's opinion, Washington also credited the character of his team.
"The camaraderie on our team is unbelievable," Washington said. "Since the beginning on the year, everyone on our team has been very close to each other. Today, we peaked as a team."
After clinching the third seed in the WCLL South Division playoffs, UCSD will either face UCSB or Chapman in the WCLL quarterfinals.
Unfortunately for Arizona, their third divisional loss puts them in a do or die situation against the USC Trojans. In order for the Wildcats to gain the fourth and final seed in their divisional playoffs, Arizona must defeat the Trojans on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Moore, who played major minutes despite a torn calf, was at a disbelief that the Wildcats' season could easily end against the Trojans.
"UCSD played a very good game," said Moore. "For us, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong for us today. This loss makes our game against USC our most important game of the year. If our team doesn't step it up against USC, our season is over."
Since defeating then fourth-ranked BYU on March 8th, the Wildcats have a combined record of 1-5, with their only victory coming against the 3-10 Washington Huskies.
Arizona head coach Adam Hopkins voiced his frustration on the recent struggle of his Wildcats.
"We've had a lot of key injuries this season, but we have the guys that are capable of stepping in for our starters," explained Hopkins. "Talent wise, I believe we are still one of the top five teams in the USLIA. But in our recent games, we definitely haven't played to our potential."
Game note: Former Arizona standout/USLIA All American Charlie Mink is serving as Arizona's assistant coach. Mink's collegiate lacrosse career ended prematurely after suffering an ACL injury in the fall … UCSD's club sports members served free barbecue and drinks for all fans in attendance … UCSD's Dance Team performed on the field during halftime... Many noticeable faces were in the crowd (including former Cal all-star Bryan Choi, former Sonoma State all-stars Dallas Hartley and Graham Elsdon, USD head coach Curt Borton, and USD general manager Ken Mink)... UCSD will host Arizona St. on March 13th at 1 PM... Arizona travels up to Los Angles to play USC on March 12th at 1 PM and Whittier College on March 13th at 1 PM.
Box Score:
Arizona: 3 – 1 – 1 – 1 = 6
UCSD: 3 – 4 – 1 – 2 = 10
Arizona Scoring: Locheridge 3g, McFadden 1g 1a, Ghaney 2a, Morrison 1g 1a, Moore 1g 1 a.
UCSD Scoring: Dean 2g 4a, Lafiandra 2g 1a, Northart 2g 1a, Albani 2g, Stensrud 1g 1a, Smith 1a.
Face-offs: Arizona 15/19
Saves: Arizona 7 (Zeppieri 5, Salemi 2), UCSD 10 (Hochstein 8, Etchepare 2)
Man-up: Arizona 2-7, UCSD 2-10
Officials: Duggan, Carroll, Brown
Attendance: 320
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Photos are courtesy of Jim Everett. All rights reserved.
