'Sweet Sixteen' gets even smaller

The Laxcats, who face off against Whittier Saturday night at 7:30, received another gigantic blow as junior captain Dan Price went down with a broken thumb on Tuesday.

"We are not ready to ring the season up just yet," UA head coach Mickey-Miles Felton said. "Our path is more difficult, but that makes the accomplishment much greater."

UA, who lost to Whittier 12-4 earlier this season in a game that did not count toward the playoffs, will have to slow the ball down if it hopes to beat the team dubbed the "Best in the West."

"We are going to have to take the air out of the clock," Felton said.

The Laxcats are forced to start an attack of three freshmen.

"The freshmen are going to have to step up and slow the ball down a lot on attack," junior midfielder Dan McCarthy said. "But anything is possible, and, without Price, we are just going to have to suck it up and play our butts off."

The Laxcats have been practicing without all three of their captains. It is possible they may have to play without them as well. Price and senior Chris Greco are out while senior Dave Ames' status is questionable.

The players seem confident even though they keep getting their emotions knocked around with bad breaks.

"We saw a very beatable team in Whittier," Ames said. "We are going to have to adjust on defense to defend against their style of play but there is no room for error."