Although the No. 6 Arizona men's club lacrosse team has proven its potential for the postseason in the national standings, last weekend it answered whether or not the team could stay consistent, winning its first two conference matches in San Diego.
Junior attackman Greg Polheber booked yesterday's victory with the game winner over No. 14 UC-San Diego, as the Laxcats (6-2, 2-0 Western Collegiate Lacrosse League) won 12-11, in double overtime, as 10 Laxcats found the net.
"I found a short stick mismatch and just took it one-on-one, straight to the goal," Polheber said.
After edging past SDSU 9-7 Saturday, Arizona came out slightly sluggish in the first quarter against the Tritons, who were able to put five goals past the Laxcat defense.
This was only the preview to a matchup where scoring for both squads became contagious in spurts.
A three-goal second quarter, where Arizona increased intensity on both ends, resulted in a 6-5 lead at the half.
The Laxcats' aggressiveness in the second half proved beneficial as two more scores were found early, completing a set of five unanswered goals.
But the Tritons refused to back down.
UCSD sophomore attackman Chris McCall came strong, scoring three of the Tritons' four goals late in the third quarter, as the tables turned for UCSD.
Back-to-back goals let Arizona trade momentum with the Tritons, who held to a one-goal advantage.
The drama set the stage for Arizona freshman midfielder Shane Morrison, who knotted the game at 11 with his first career goal, taking the game to an extra overtime.
Junior goaltender Charles Salemi, who finished with 25 saves, kept the Laxcats in the game by denying the Tritons' efforts.
"He was out of his mind," said Arizona goalie Greg Abdouch.
Heading straight for the cage, Polheber released and found mesh as the Laxcats put their exclamation point on the weekend.
Arizona used this past week to recuperate from the weekend. The Laxcats face No. 24 Chapman at 7 p.m. Friday at Murphy Stadium.