Women's lacrosse season ends with disappointing playoff finish

Ian Meyer Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona junior attacker Jessica Deal makes a run with the ball during the Laxcats last game. Arizona finished in fourth place at the California Women's Lacrosse League Championships this weekend.

In Sunday's consolation game, the Laxcats were edged out, 9-8 by UC-San Diego. Arizona led 8-4 with 10 minutes to play, but allowed four goals in a three-minute span before the eventual game-winner with just under two minutes left.

Possibly more disappointing was the loss of senior Emily Rankin in the first two minutes of the game against UC-Davis.

Rankin, the unofficial captain of the team, went down with a serious ankle injury that forced her to sit out the entire weekend.

"The seniors remained focused and we had someone to play for," senior defensive wing Dana Miller said. "We knew how disappointing it was for her and it pushed us to play harder."

"The team play was not affected," co-head coach Josh Drieband said. "It gave them an emotional rise to play off of with great hustle."

With Rankin out of the game, the Laxcats held the Aggies - who have the most potent Division II offense in women's lacrosse - to a single goal for the first 20 minutes.

But the second 20 minutes were a different story as UCD scored six more times before the half, while holding the Laxcats to a single goal.

"(First line) talent-wise we matched up with them," Drieband said. "They had a second team of players who were just as good as their first team, we didn't."

"We were lacking substitutes and Davis was double-teaming in the midfield, so it was hard to get shots off," UA junior Andrea Bozzolo said. "UC-Davis executed their shots by working around the crease well."

The second half was much of the same.

The Aggies scored five more goals as the Laxcats were held to two points before time expired.

"We played good, we were mentally tough and physically tough, we had nothing to lose as the underdog," Miller said. "If anything it created a higher level of intensity for us."

Against UCSD, sophomore Andrea Bozzolo had three of the eight Laxcat goals.

"We came through where we could, but fatigue set in during both games. When we decided to play as a team we were unstoppable," Dreiband said.

The Laxcats took an early 3-1 advantage, but the defense couldn't hold UCSD back.

"In the first half we played as a team, but there was a slight overconfidence," Miller said. "As a senior it was heart breaking to be equally matched with them and to not come through with a win."

One bright note for the weekend was the appearance of three Arizona players in Sunday afternoon's CWLL All-Star game. Kalmbach, junior Jessica Deal and Jillian Gant represented the UA. Gant topped off her season with three more goals in the All-Star game.