By
Jeff Lund
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Laxcats downed by Colorado, Colorado State
It may have been the home field advantage, the altitude or even the northern Colorado weather, but the Laxcats are making no excuses after being blitzed by No 1. Colorado State and No. 11 Colorado over the weekend.
"We went in talking the talk," junior goalie Greg Parkington said. "But we just didn't walk the walk. I don't really know what happened."
UA's offense sputtered uncharacteristically in both games.
The No. 8 Laxcats (10-4) couldn't get anything started Saturday against CSU. In a game in which the Rams were favored by five, the confident Laxcats were buried by 18. An early CSU lead snowballed into a 25-7 blowout, the Laxcats worst loss of the year.
"The ball just bounced their way," Parkington said. "Nothing was working right."
UA head coach Mickey-Miles Felton said his team was simply overwhelmed.
"We were as prepared as we could be for the game," Felton said. "We just weren't able to do anything. (CSU) does a lot of things we would like to do better, and we just got it shoved right in our face."
Arizona tried to gain back some of the lost respect the next day in Boulder against Colorado but stalled in the second half as the Buffaloes took control and won 13-9.
"We played a tough game against Colorado," Parkington said. "We were tied at halftime, but in the second half they pulled away. I don't really know what it was. It is hard to figure out."
Felton said his team was still reeling from the loss to the Rams when it took on CU.
"It just seemed we hadn't fully recovered from Saturday's game," Felton said. "We weren't mentally there. We didn't give up, but we weren't mentally there to do what we wanted to do."
Senior Jevon Lake - who traded offensive scoring for a position on the defensive end to better balance the team - said he was disappointed in his team's finish to the regular season.
"What can I say? It was very disappointing," Lake said. "We thought we were ready. On Colorado's side, both teams were very disciplined and we just broke down as a team."
Felton said there is no more room for breakdowns or disappointments.
"I am all talked out," Felton said. "We are just saying the same things over and over. It is time to quit talking. It is just a question of putting up or shutting up."
The Laxcats went to Colorado as the No. 1 ranked team in the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League, but left humbled after the pair of losses.
Felton said the team will turn the weekend's struggles into motivation for the playoffs.
"We were representing the WCLL as well as Arizona, and we didn't come through," Felton said. "We have a lot of talent and we can still accomplish all of our goals."
Lake agreed and said that the UA can't afford to dwell on the losses when they take on UC-San Diego Saturday at Laxcat Coliseum in the quarterfinals of the WCLL playoffs.
"We want our respect back," Lake said. "We will be playing (UC- San Diego) in the first round of the playoffs. We can take out our anger on them."
