At full strength, UA dominates Whittier

It's amazing the difference that a few players can make for a team.

The No. 1-ranked Arizona women's club lacrosse "A" team (15-3-1) played Whittier College on April 12 in California and came out with a slim 9-8 victory despite being without the services of sophomore Jessica Deal and junior Jami Adelman.

But with a full lineup, the Laxcats, the No. 1 seed in the southern division, hosted Whittier, No. 5 seed in the south, Saturday morning in the second round of the Southern California Women's Lacrosse Association playoffs at Wildcat field and dominated the Poets in a 13-5 win.

With the victory, the Laxcats have advanced to the semifinals and will face the University of California at Davis, the No. 2 seed in the northern division, Saturday in San Diego. The championship game will be played on Sunday.

Deal had a team-high four goals, scoring one with 18 seconds left in the first half. Her score came 15 seconds after Whittier had scored a goal, breaking any momentum that the Poets had gained seconds before.

"We have a lot of team work. This is a great team," Deal said.

Nine different Laxcats scored in the game, including junior Jillian Gant, who was brought up from the "B" team.

In the closing seconds of the first half, sophomore Andrea Bozzolo collided with a Poet and was hit on the ankle and limped off the field but had her ankle taped up and played in the second half.

Bozzolo said it was the first time she had ever needed to be taped up.

Arizona carried a 7-3 lead into the half, and came out smoking in the second, scoring four straight goals to take an 11-3 advantage early in the second half.

Bozzolo's ankle didn't affect her play in the second half as she scored two of the four early goals.

"I was mentally frustrated in the first half, but I got my act together in the second half. They have a good goalie and I was aiming for the corners," Bozzolo said.

"We had all our personnel this time. We outhustled and outworked them," Arizona co-head coach Matt Proutt said.

"We were able to bring up some of the 'B' team players for the game, giving us more depth and allowing us to substitute more," Arizona co-head coach Mark Bresee said.

The score could have been much worse than it was. Whittier had 32 costly turnovers in the game.

"We were outhustled and not mentally prepared. The turnovers were the difference in the game," Whittier head coach Tera Barnheart said.

Whittier goalie Stacey Merideth turned away 31 Laxcat shots.

Poet Wendy Newman was Whittier's offense, scoring four of the team's five goals.

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3 Laxcats looking for spot on national team

Hard work, dedication and continued teamwork has contributed to three members of the Arizona women's club lacrosse teams going to the tryouts for the U.S. Women's National Team in Longmeadow, Mass., over Memorial Day weekend.

The "A" team will be sending junior goalie Hope Wisneski, and the "B" team is sending senior Jill Fowler and sophomore Ellen Higgins.

Each player plays a vital role on their respected teams.

In mid-March, when the "A" team was struggling, co-head coach Matt Proutt put Wisneski in charge of bringing up the team mood.

"Attitudes were low, but I gave it all I had and the team responded," Wisneski said.

Wisneski played on the "B" team last year. Fowler, who is a team captain on the "B" squad and the president of the club, is always lifting the spirits of the team.

"Being a captain is an honor, because the captains are selected by the team," Fowler said.

Surprisingly, each of these athletes do not have a lot of experience behind them.

Wisneski, who played lacrosse in high school in Maryland, is only in her second year as a goalie.

"I saw it as an opportunity to start every game," Wisneski said.

Fowler had never even seen a lacrosse game before last year.

Higgins is a first-year player that transferred from Geneva, N.Y.

Last year the "B" team had a tough season without any wins and Fowler said that she wanted to improve the team and her own skills this year.

"We just wanted to have fun and introduce the rookies to the game. This team by far exceeded my expectations," Fowler said.

Higgins said she was unaware of the previous season and just came to Arizona to play.

"I just stayed motivated and focused, and didn't let myself get down," Higgins said.

Each of these players had role models that they looked up to for support.

Higgins said that Arizona "B" team head coach Christiana Dellorusso gave her great encouragement and reinforcement that she needed all season long. The experienced players also were very supportive, and she would try to mimic them, she said.

Fowler gives credit to solid veterans like seniors Terry Repp and Cheryl Carnes as both players and as people.

"They give it all they got all the time. They love to play the game," Fowler said.

For Wisneski it is the two head coaches of the "A" team Bresee and Proutt. She credits them with giving her great confidence and helping her exceed at the next level.

"They help me recognize my strengths and my weaknesses," Wisneski said.

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Tricats set for Wildflower Collegiate meet

The Wildcat triathletes are preparing for this weekend's Wildflower Triathlon Collegiate Championships in Cupertino, Calif. Justin Perino, Greg Stewart, Chris Battaglia, Marian Hendricks and Lisa Waschler will all participate in the collegiate division, which consists of a 1-mile swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride and a 10- kilometer run.

"There will be about 1,200 athletes in the meet, and it's tough," Waschler said.

Wade Grow is the lone UA athlete competing in the Ironman race qualifier at the Wildflower. The distances will double from the collegiate race for the Ironman race.

Waschler, Perino and Battaglia will also be traveling to Santa Rosa, Calif., June 7 for a shot at the U.S. Junior National Team.