March 16, 2005
The Wednesday National Notebook takes a look at college lacrosse being played beyond Division I.
Built Ram Tough
For the past two seasons, UC-Santa Barbara and Colorado State have been the two best teams in the US Lacrosse Men's Division Intercollegiate Associates A Division. They have met in each of the last two national championship games, with each team winning a title.
It was only fitting, then, that they met in The First Four event this past Saturday in Carson, Calif., for a prime regular season showdown.
While marking a significant highlight for the IAs in exposure, the game itself belonged to Colorado State goalie Pete Jokisch.
The senior from Overland Park, Kan. stole the show with a 23-save performance as the No. 2 Rams defeated the top-ranked Gauchos 8-6 before 2,000 fans.
"He played excellent," said CSU coach Flip Naumburg. "Our defense is predicated on our goalie making a lot of saves and he did that for us today."
UCSB (9-1), the defending IA National Champions, jumped out to a 3-1 lead midway through the second quarter. But that lead came and went in 43 seconds, as the Rams (8-0) scored three consecutive goals. CSU led 5-4 at halftime.
"We were a little too sloppy," said UCSB coach Mike Allen. "We made some mistakes and gave them turnover opportunities. It's tough to bounce back from that."
The third quarter was all Jokisch. The Gauchos peppered Jokisch with 15 shots, but were denied on all of them as the stonewall goalie made 10 saves in the scoreless quarter.
UCSB was without the services of a healthy Luke Wilson, which hampered the Gaucho offense. Wilson, who is battling hamstring problems, played anyway and scored a goal but was not his usual self. Also held in check was senior Will Patton (1 assist).
Frustration surfaced in the game's waning seconds as UCSB senior goalie Ryan Brittan (6 saves) was penalized twice for unsportsmanlike conduct. That is nothing new for these teams, which exchanged some unfriendly banter during last year's championship game, which UCSB won 8-7.
"This trip was strictly business," said Jokisch. "We will definitely meet them again."
That shot could come in mid-May when the 2005 US Lacrosse Men's Division IA National Championships are held in Blaine, Minn.
Salisbury Drops TCNJ, ends Lion's 52-game winning streak
The seconds couldn't tick any faster for Salisbury women's lacrosse coach Jim Nestor as he watched his team close out one of the biggest victories in the history of the program. The fourth-ranked Sea Gulls defeated No. 2 The College of New Jersey 9-7 on Sunday, snapping the Lions' 52-game regular season winning streak.
It was the first time Salisbury had ever beaten TCNJ, and marked the Lions' first regular season loss since March 22, 2001.
"Time was on our side," said Nestor, now in his fourth year at the helm. "There was a revenge factor [coming into this game] because they knocked us out last year."
The game Nestor referred to was last year's NCAA Division III Tournament semifinal game in Rochester, N.Y., where the Lions won 14-9, before losing to eventual national champion Middlebury. In the past seven seasons, TCNJ has held a 9-0 record against the Sea Gulls, including two victories in the NCAA semifinals. During that span, the Lions won their games by an average of seven goals.
Salisbury's Linda Ackerman scored three goals on four shots while goalie Ali Goetz made 13 saves in the victory. TCNJ scored the last four goals of the game off the sticks of Lauren Dougher and Karen Doane, who scored two goals apiece. In the end, there wasn't enough time left for the Lions to complete their comeback.
The Sea Gulls (3-0) switched spots in the latest IWLCA poll with TCNJ (0-1) taking over the No. 2 spot behind top-ranked Middlebury, who the Sea Gulls will face next Wednesday, March 23 in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Early Season Spring Trips
In mid-March, Division II and III teams will board charter buses and hit the highways looking for warmer places to play lacrosse - and perhaps a field that is not buried by a foot of snow or flooded with water and mud. Most teams from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region have encountered problems with lingering winter weather.
Last weekend, four Division II teams (No. 3 NYIT, Molloy, St. Andrew's and Wheeling Jesuit) met at the St. Paul's School just outside of Baltimore for a weekend of games.
"You have to do what you have to do," said NYIT coach Jack Kaley. "It is either do that or try playing in the snow."
The Bears (2-0) fared well over the weekend with a sweep of St. Andrew's and Wheeling Jesuit in their first two games of the season. NYIT will return to Maryland in early April to play Pfeiffer University in Fallston, Md.
"The only thing that is tough about it is you lose a lot of home games," said Kaley of the traveling. "We don't have many home games [three] because we have to travel to neutral sites."
Line of the Week
7 goals
Katherine Hock - Senior Attack
Adelphi University
First-team All-American Katherine Hock scored a game-high seven goals for top-ranked Adelphi in its 16-6 victory Saturday over No. 9 Mercyhurst at home. Hock scored six of her goals in the first half.
From the Sidelines
Le Moyne, ranked No. 1 in Division II men's lacrosse, hits the field for the first time this weekend when it travels to Merrimack. . . . Take two for the NESCAC. Snow storms and bad weather caused over 20 men's and women's games to be canceled this past weekend in the New England region. The NESCAC conference was slated to open up last Saturday. . . . It was a tough week for the No. 13 St. Mary's (Md.) women's lacrosse team as it lost back-to-back Capital Athletic Conference games to Catholic and Goucher. The Seahawks dropped to No. 19 in the latest polls, but did bounce back to beat Randolph-Macon on Tuesday. . . . Cortland senior Adam Hughes became the 14th player in school history to score 100 career goals.
Lacrosse Magazine Online writer Jac Coyne contributed to this article.
