Laxcats advance to finals

Leigh-Anne Brown Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore defenseman Tom Christian (25) runs upfield during a game against UCLA. The UA men's lacrosse team will be going to the national tournament in St. Louis April 28.

The WCLL grants two automatic bids to the national championships. Whittier College placed ahead of UA in the tournament, but is a varsity program, and therefore can not participate in the club national championships. This opened a slot for the Laxcats.

The weekend started on a bad note as UA lost in the semifinals to Sonoma State 15-5. Felton said he was not sure what inspired the difference in his team between Friday's loss and Saturday's game against Cal.

"We had a meeting after the game and I asked the players to individually think about what they could have done better to change the outcome of the game against Sonoma State," he said. "Then I asked them to make that effort against Cal."

The game against Cal started with senior midfielder Dan McCarthy picking up the ball on the faceoff and scoring an unassisted goal 35 seconds into the contest. Faceoffs were a vital part of UA's victory, Felton said.

In the loss to Sonoma State, the Laxcats won just two out of 19 faceoffs. Against Cal, freshman midfielder Brett Jeffry dominated the faceoffs, helping UA find rhythm in its offense and spend most of the game on the attack.

Cal scored the next two goals, but UA fought back and tied the game 2-2. The teams exchanged goals but Cal then scored twice to take a 5-3 lead. Freshman attackman Matt Green got the Laxcats to within one and then freshman attackman Blane Lochridge scored with six seconds remaining in the second quarter to tie the game.

McCarthy started the second half the same way he began the game by scoring on a pass from senior attackman Dan Price. Arizona added another goal before Cal came back to tie the score 7-7.

After scoring to take an 8-7 lead, the Laxcats got another goal from Green with a minute and 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Green then opened the final period with another goal, extending UA's lead to 10-7.

The teams exchanged goals again, and then Green hit Price to give UA a 12-8 lead.

Cal did not go down without a fight, as they battled back and scored their 11th goal with 1:16 left, but Arizona was able to keep the Bears from scoring and celebrated their biggest win of the season.

"The last minute was pretty nerve-racking," Felton said. "We did a great job of not giving them an opportunity to score."

Felton started freshman Greg Parkington in goal for the second straight game. Parkington spent most of the season watching from the sidelines, at one point not even making the traveling squad. Parkington had 18 saves against Sonoma State and 10 against Cal. Parkington sat out during the fall season with a shoulder injury, and has been trying to work his way back into the lineup ever since. He played some at midfielder earlier in the year, but stuck with working on being a goalie with coach Tom Nolan.

"Tom really knows what he is talking about has been around the game a long time," Parkington said. "It was such an unbelievable experience for me this weekend."

Price scored four goals and added two assists, while Lochridge chipped in three goals.

Parkington said that the team is going to do its best to return from St. Louis with a national championship. The Laxcats will next play April 28 in St. Louis at the national championships.

Chris Reimer can be reached at Chris.Reimer@wildcat.arizona.edu.