May. 12th, 2004 - Revenge is sweet as Sonoma State upsets Arizona
Fenton, MO - In a rematch of last month"s WCLL Championship Semifinals, the #5 seeded Sonoma State Seawolves beat the #4 seeded Arizona LaxCats 14 - 9 in a back and forth grudge match to advance to Friday"s MDIA National Semifinals. Sonoma (2002 National Champions) will face another WCLL squad in the semifinals, University of California-Santa Barbara Gauchos, for a berth in the National title game.
"Arizona"s a good team, they are well coached, and it is a lot of fun playing a chess match against them," said Sonoma Head Coach Doug Carl of the second meeting. "We have a history, a long history. More than two games. A lot of the guys on the teams know each other, it"s a lot of fun."
"It was an advantage," said midfielder Brian Johnson (Maple Valley, WA) when asked about the WCLL playoff loss to the LaxCats. "It gave us a lot of fire. The first time we played, we thought we would roll over them, but this time, we had it in the back of our heads we could lose."
"I felt it was a little bit of an advantage and a disadvantage," said Arizona senior captain and defender Tom Wiley (Orinda, CA) on meeting Sonoma again so soon. "It"s an advantage because we had beat them, which helped our confidence, but it was a disadvantage because it hurts motivation."
"It is hard to beat any team twice," said Arizona Head Coach Ken Broschart. "Especially an equal team. I feel we are the same type of program. They just had the better day today."
The steady drizzle dampened the field, but couldn"t extinguish the flames fueling these two competitors. "We play in the rain all the time, it rains in Sonoma five days a week, so we had an advantage," laughed Johnson.
Goals were difficult to come by in the first five minutes of the game. But like the rain, once they started, they began to pour. Sonoma was first on the board at 9:53 when long pole defender Michael Cannis (San Diego, CA) slipped past Arizona"s riding midfielders on a clear and sneaked a goal behind junior goaltender Greg Abdouch (Scottsdale, AZ).
Exactly three minutes later, Arizona tied the score when an errant feed by midfielder Steve Luna (Phoenix, AZ) found itself uncaught and in the back of the net. This bit of fortune sparked a run for the LaxCats, as they scored three goals in a :27 second span to lead 3-1.
Attackman Adam Paris (Portland, OR) fed the second goal from behind cage to a streaking Greg Polheber (Tucson, AZ) cutting from top of the box.
Arizona"s third goal came off an uncredited bullet pass that navigated a tangle of sticks and players to find Brian Etheredge (Layafette, CA) as the midfielder was leveled to the ground.
The Seawolves could not be tamed. 8 seconds after Arizona scored their third goal, Sonoma went on a three goal run of their own, controlling the remainder of the first quarter.
It was face-off midfielder J.D. Hamann (San Diego, CA) who got the ball rolling for Sonoma, as the junior scooped the ball out of the clamp and made a beeline towards the Arizona goal to bring the Seawolves within one goal.
Then with 1:55 remaining in the first, an unsettled fast break allowed sophomore attackman Jon Maxwell (Poway, CA) to tie the game. Maxwell"s goal came at just the right time, since he would find himself serving one minute for an illegal crosse to start the second quarter.
With under a minute remaining in the first, Sonoma retook the lead with a play more common on a basketball court than a lacrosse field. Midfielder Brian Cummings (Oakland, CA) crossed paths with a teammate and received a flip pass. Immediately posting up, Cummings cranked the ball off the weak side goal upright and into the net, making it a 4-3 Sonoma lead.
Unable to capitalize on Maxwell"s illegal stick penalty, Arizona would still take the first goal in the second period, when Polheber drove from behind the cage and nabbed a top shelf goal in front of the crease at 12:41.
Sonoma"s Morgan Dale (San Diego, CA) would answer, but not until 4:22 remaining in the half to retake the lead.
True to the tempo of the game, Arizona would not give up. The LaxCats scored with only 2 seconds remaining as freshman midfielder Harrison Crawford (Phoenix, AZ) made a sweeping move to the left after catching a pass from Luna, leaping with an arcing overhand shot to tie the game at five goals apiece.
Brian Johnson of Sonoma opened up a high scoring third quarter when he lasered a shot after cutting through the crease and snagging an MJ Crickmore (Berkeley, CA) feed at 13:50. Within a minute, Johnson then passed to midfielder Chris Esposito (Mill Valley, CA) on a man-up opportunity after the Seawolves flooded the left side of the field.
"They had two turnovers, and that is when we made our run," remarked Coach Carl. "A good team makes runs and will hit that spot in the game when they realize, "this is the moment, and we have to step up and take advantage of it." We did that in the third quarter."
Arizona"s Polheber brought the score within one when he looped the cage, using his height to his advantage, for a slam dunk goal.
With just under nine minutes remaining, a slashing penalty on Arizona"s Paris gave Sonoma another chance at an extra man goal. This time, it was a sidearm blast from sophomore Daniel McDonald (Laguna Hills, CA) that gave Sonoma some breathing room and an 8-6 lead.
Morgan Dale (San Diego, CA) tacked on another for the Seawolves at 8:23 when a loose ball melee behind the net sent the Arizona defense into disarray, leaving a naked Dale standing directly in front of the cage.
Down by two goals at the beginning of the fourth period with a score of 10-7, Arizona would make their final run of the game. The Cats netted two quick goals in the first five minutes.
The first score came at the hands of Arizona midfielder Jeems Lochridge (Pacific Grove, CA). Lochridge rolled around from behind the net, reverse spinning to shake his defender, and burying the goal up high.
At the 12:15 mark, Crawford (3g, 1a) punched in the LaxCats" final goal, sweeping across the field and putting a bounce shot past Sonoma"s Dominic Gomez (San Diego, CA).
The Seawolves would dominate the remaining game time, with Johnson scoring twice in a four-goal explosion. He would lead all scorers with three goals and two assists.
Even suffering the loss, Arizona was proud of their successful season, returning to the national tournament after being absent from St. Louis last year.
"We were more of a family this year. In the past, we looked to a lot of all star individuals to get things done, this year, we played like more of a team program," said Lochridge. "This year, if we needed a goal, we would make five or six passes, not just give it to one guy to go to the hole."
"The first time we played (Arizona), we didn"t really show them what we had," said Gomez. "Basically today, we tried to play Sonoma lacrosse, stuck to our game plan for the most part, and it worked out in our favor in the end."
"Arizona was great preparation for us," said Gomez, thinking towards Friday"s quarterfinal against UCSB. "We have the momentum. We got some redemption from beating Arizona, got a little fire, some pride back in our steps. Hopefully that will turn up in the next game."