Emotional rally gives UA a win

Ian C. Meyer Arizona Daily Wildcat UA's Andrea Boso (19) takes a shot on goal during yesterday's game against UC-Santa Barbara. Boso scored the first of the last three goals which gave Arizona a 7-6 victory.

The Laxcats advanced to the Final Four of the California Women's Lacrosse League yesterday by defeating UC-Santa Barbara, 7-6.

The Laxcats overcame a deficit of two goals with less than a minute left in the game to deny UCSB entry to the Final Four for the first time in its school history, reducing many of the Gauchos' players to tears.

The final two goals, scored in the last 30 seconds, earned the Laxcats a trip to Berkeley, Calif. next weekend against the winner of the Whitten and UC-San Diego game.

"We took our play to a higher level and we finally clicked in the last two minutes," UA sophomore midfielder Heather Kalmbach said.

Down the stretch, UA midfielder Jessica Deal was huge. Deal scored the first goal of the final minute to cut the score to 6-5. She then won the next two face-offs and carried the ball down to UCSB's goal, assisting on the final two scores.

"We played with so much heart, especially in the last two minutes of the game," Deal said.

Though the players were elated, the coaches still see that there is more work to get done.

"We have the capability of being champions," UA co-head coach Gene Lower said. "They need to decide if they want to play the whole game and not only the final two minutes."

The final goal that lifted the Laxcats to victory was scored by senior forward Emily Raiken.

"We finally stepped up," Raiken said. "Since this is my senior year, I didn't want to let it (the game) go."

In the first half it looked as if UCSB was going to dominate the game. The Gauchos had a 3-1 lead within the first 15 minutes.

Lower was forced to call a time-out after the Gauchos' third goal. The Laxcats responded with senior Emily Raiken scoring to cut the lead to one. The Laxcats maintained the momentum scoring two more goals before the half was over to take a 4-3 lead.

"I think we have the championship team right here. We just need to play the entire game like the last two minutes," co-head coach Josh Drieband said.

"We were not shooting well the entire game," Lower said. "The defense kept us in the game.

"Our motto all year long has been that offense wins games, but defense wins championships."

For the Gauchos, the loss was difficult to deal with.

"We played really hard throughout the entire game. It is difficult to maintain (a lead) when the Final Four is on the line," UCSB co-head coach Erin Cook said. "I am not disappointed with their level of play, but I am very disappointed that we had a menta l and physical letdown."