Laxcats lose in overtime

In an emotional battle from start to finish, Arizona lost to UC-Santa Barbara, 12-11 in overtime.

This is the first time in two years that the Laxcats (9-3 in the WCLL Southern Division) have lost back-to-back games, but head coach Mickey-Miles Felton said he thinks that may actually be a positive thing for his team.

"That's the way the basketball team went down before the NCAA tournament, and look what they did," Felton said.

The Laxcats led 3-2 after one period, and 6-4 at the half. They led 9-7 after three and led 11-9 with 2:48 to go in the fourth quarter.

But the mental lapses down the stretch enabled the Gauchos (10-2 in the WCLL Northern Division) to stay in it and eventually take over.

With four seconds to go, the Gauchos tied the game at 11 to send it overtime. The Gauchos never led until game's end.

Sophomore goaltender David Beer had the best game of his Arizona career with 25 saves in the losing effort.

The Laxcats first playoff game is Saturday against Chapman.