Following its loss to top-ranked Colorado State, the Arizona's men's lacrosse team will try to rebound this weekend against Texas A&M and Texas.
The Laxcats first meet A&M tomorrow night. The Aggies (2-0), powered by attackmen Jason Dunn and Ryan Turnbow, begin nonconference play against Arizona (0-1) after dispatching their first two opponents, Houston and Louisiana State, by an average of 18 goals.
Sunday, the Laxcats travel to Austin to face the Longhorns (4-1). Led by attackman Eric Zissman and midfielder Simon Telfer, Texas presents another high-powered challenge for Arizona, which faces its third consecutive ranked team.
"It's going to be a long trip," said Laxcats head coach Kenny Broschart. "It's tough coming off such a big game and then coming down to the next one."
First on Arizona's to-do list is stopping Dunn, who comprised one-half of the Aggies' 100-point duo last season. The senior led the team with 128 points in 2003, overshadowing former attackman Justin Thomas by nearly forty goals.
"Texas A&M is going to be very, very good," Broschart said. "They have one really good player (Dunn) we have to shut down."
The Longhorns' Zissman may be equally formidable, having notched 24 points in his first five games. He is joined by senior co-captain Justin Bedard, who leads the team in goals, shots and ground balls.
"We don't know much about (the Longhorns), either," said Broschart, whose Laxcats have never faced either Texas team. "We don't have much scouting on them, we don't know what they do. That's going to be tough, going in there blind."
A guiding light may again come from Arizona's frontline, which found its stride after a rusty first half last weekend.
"This last game, we worked a lot of things out," said senior attackman Jeems Lochridge, who scored a goal against the Rams. "We made the mistakes now rather than later."
The Laxcats return home Feb. 20, when they open a three-game home stand against Oakland.
"The first-week jitters are over," said junior defenseman Dan Young. "This second week is going to determine where we go from this point on.
"Texas is a huge mountain that we have to climb before we even look ahead to Oakland."
Still, Broschart discounts the importance of bringing a 2-1 start back home.
"It's important for our confidence, but that's about it," he said. "Besides that, it's not (an extra) point in the standings."
Though "juiced" to play the Aggies, Lochridge doubts there will be a Valentine's Day massacre tomorrow.
"Everyone's going to get some love," he said.