Laxcats get top ranking for tournament

Charles C. Labenz Arizona Daily Wildcat UA junior Max Webber and the rest of the Laxcats will take part in the National Club Championships in St. Louis this weekend.

So, the Laxcats let their play on the field do their talking for them.

The Laxcats earned the national number one ranking for this weekend's National Club Lacrosse Championships in St. Louis with a 19-17 win over Sonoma State in the WCLL semifinals on Friday night. The tournament begins Friday.

"(The No. 1 ranking) means a great deal to me and the team," Laxcats head coach Mickey-Miles Felton said. "It's mind boggling and overwhelming to me that the first time a ranking comes out that we are on top of the poll.

"It's like a dream that hasn't set in yet. Year after year, we try to win the WCLL and now there's something more to gain."

The Laxcats (11-4 overall) earned the No. 1 seed because the Whittier Poets won the other semifinal against UC-Santa Barbara. Whittier is not eligible for the club finals because they are an NCAA Division III team. The Gauchos won the third place game against Sonoma State and will be the second team out of the WCLL.

The Laxcats made it to their sixth WCLL championship game in their history, but it was their first since winning the title in 1990.

Against the Poets, though, the Laxcats were no match in what is basically a game that did not matter in terms of their national standing.

The Laxcats were left emotionally drained from their win on Friday night and did not have much left against the Poets.

The Laxcats, short on defense with injuries to senior Travis Powell and junior Chris Greco, held up against Sonoma, but fell 29-10 to Whittier. Both Powell and Greco are expected to play this weekend, though.

Whittier lead 14-5 at the half and cruised to the victory. For the Poets, it was their second-straight title and fifth in seven years.

But the game against Sonoma State, Felton said, was the game that really mattered for the Laxcats.

"The win against Chapman last weekend put us in better position to advance through the final four and get us to St. Louis," Felton said. "(We) went into the Sonoma game with more confidence and felt we could accomplish the task at hand."