Apr. 14th, 2003 - Patton and Colkins lead UCSB over Chapman 17-3
By Woo-Jin Shim
Orange County, CA - In one of the most anticipated match-ups in the WCLL this season, UCSB showed why they are one of the favorites to win the USLIA title.
Sophomore midfielder Will Patton (Marin County, CA/Marin Catholic H.S.) scored a career high six goals and freshman defenseman Damon Conklin (Marin County, CA/St. Ignatius Prep) helped shutdown WCLL's top scorer Danny Metoyer (San Diego,CA/ Junipero Serra H.S.) to lead the 2nd ranked UCSB Gauchos to a 17-3 win against the 13th ranked Chapman Panthers. With the victory, UCSB clinched the top seed in the WCLL South A Division playoffs.
Just 25 seconds into the contest, UCSB's Ben Schooler (Berkeley, CA/Berkeley H.S.) opened the scoring with a shot from the top right corner. For the fired-up Gauchos, Schooler's goal would be one of many more to come for UCSB.
Behind an extremely supportive Gauchos' bench, Patton won most of his face-off opportunities and the Gauchos were able to dominate ball control for the majority first quarter.
Against Chapman's zone defense, UCSB executed their offense to perfection. With precise ball movement and timely shots, the Gauchos took apart the Panthers' defense scheme to race out to a 9-1 lead by the end of the first quarter.
"Coach (DeMonte) really got us fired up for this game," Patton said. "We just wanted to get out there and play to our potential. Our team showed what we are capable of when everyone does their part."
When the Panthers were able to get the ball to their offense, they struggled to free up Metoyer from Colkin and a hoard of UCSB defenders. As soon as Metoyer created any room between him and the freshman defenseman, the Gauchos' defense quickly collapsed on Chapman's top offensive threat. With Metoyer the unable to free himself for any open shots, the entire Chapman squad looked out of sync.
"We knew (Danny) Metoyer was their main threat," Colkin said. "We slid very early when he had the ball and took him out of their offense. Tycho Sutter (Mill Valley, CA/St. Ignatius) and Will Crow (Oakland, CA/Bishop O'Dowd H.S.) also did a great job defending him."
After the first quarter, the Gauchos continued their assault on the Panthers' defense. Chapman went back to their man-to-man defensive scheme, but it seemed to have little effect in stopping an UCSB's offense that looked to be running all cylinders. The Gauchos took a 15-1 lead going into halftime. Patton recorded six goals while sophomore midfielder Tom Smith (Berkeley, CA/Berkeley H.S) added four goals and one assist by the end of the second quarter.
In the second half, Panthers' goalie Kelly McCoy (Palo Alto, CA/Lyn Brook H.S.) and the Panthers defense was finally able to slowdown the Gauchos' offense. But Chapman's offense still had a difficult time getting untracked against UCSB's defense. With Metoyer completely locked-off, Chapman midfielders Matt Goto (Santa Ana, CA/Foothill H.S.) and Chad Donnelly (Wheat Ridge, CO/Wheat Ridge H.S) had trouble creating offensive opportunities against a quick and aggressive Gauchos defense. UCSB led 17-1 at the 7:13 mark in the third quarter.
"We missed a several chances early in the game when a couple of our guys didn't pop out for the pass at the right time." explained Metoyer. "We just dug ourselves into a huge hole by the end of the first quarter. Being a young and inexperienced team, we had a hard time dealing with the pressure of playing against a top-ranked opponent."
Despite holding the Gauchos to just two goals in the second half, a fourteen goal deficit by halftime was just too much for the Panthers to overcome. Metoyer scored two goals for Chapman in the final thirty minutes.
"Santa Barbara is number two in the USLIA for a reason," said Chapman head coach Whit Judd. "Their midfielders just exploited our defense and we just couldn't find a way to stop them. Top to bottom, they are very talented team. I would be very surprised if they don't win the USLIA Championship title."
After the game, UCSB head coach Scott DeMonte talked about how well his squad executed the team's strategy against a Panthers squad that was riding an eight-game winning streak.
"We came out exactly the way we drew up our game plan," DeMonte said. "We wanted to score on them early and come out playing tight aggressive defense. I believe we executed well on all facet of the field. Today, we received a collective team effort from everyone. Also, Will Patton took his game to the next level and I am very happy for him."
With the number one seed in the WCLL quarterfinals, UCSB will host the Arizona Wildcats on April 19th at 1 PM. Chapman, who holds the second seed, will try to rebound against the UCSD Tritons on April 19th at 7PM.
"We could go two ways from here," said Metoyer. "We could learn from this loss and comeback strong against UCSD or we could let this loss ruin what could been an outstanding season for us. Knowing the guys on this team, I believe you'll see a more intense and hungrier Chapman squad next week."
Game notes: Approximately thirty UCSB fans made the trip down to support their Gauchos... UCSB has several great looking team t-shirts and hats for sale. Visit the UCSB Lacrosse website for more details.... Game temperature was in the low 70's at the start of the game, but dropped to the low 50's by the start of the fourth quarter.
Box Score:
UCSB: 9 – 6 – 2 – 0 = 17
Chapman: 1 – 0 – 1 – 1 = 3
UCSB Scoring: Patton 6g, Smith 4g 1a, B. Schooler 2g 2a, N. Schooler 2g 1a, Wilson 1g 2a, Caulkins 1g 1a, Christensen 1g.
Chapman Scoring: Metoyer 2g, Donnelly 1g 1a, Connors 1a.
Saves: UCSB 20 (Brittain 11, Wood 5, Jensen 4), Chapman 11 (McCoy)
Face-offs: 11/17
Man-up: UCSB 3-8, Chapman 0-6
Officials: Ergin, Linsner, Rossi
Attendance: 125
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