UA Sports Briefs

The UA men's club lacrosse team will play its most important game of the 1995 season tomorrow, when it faces UC-San Diego.

The game will be held on Tucson High School's football field at 7 p.m.

This game is very significant for the UA, in that it could have playoff implications.

Although it is the first game that will count toward the playoffs for Arizona, the Laxcats feel that it will help to put the rest of their games in perspective.

UA coach Mickey-Miles Felton feels that a win would take a lot of pressure off the team.

The key for Laxcats is simple Ä ball control, which Felton cannot stress enough. Felton is convinced that ball control "will determine the final outcome of the game."

"For us, that is the only way to win," Felton said. "We need to take care of the ball and treat it as if it were made of gold."

At the moment, three out of the six starting midfielders are injured, which forces the team to come up with a new game plan.

Felton said it is important for the Laxcats to give the best performance they can, because "we are considered the underdog."

Trying to establish a women's rugby team in the Southwest can be hard. With just a few opponents and many miles in between, the Arizona women's club rugby team is trying to do just that.

In its fourth year of competition Arizona is slowly improving. After heavy recruiting on the UA Mall earlier this year, the women's rugby team has increased its numbers and upped its record from last year.

Last season, under head coach Nancy Purdin, the Wildcats finished the year with a disappointing 4-13 record. But with more talent, speed and experience Arizona has improved to 7-5-1.

Arizona plays its next match against Northern Arizona University at 11 a.m. this Saturday at Estevan Park on Speedway Boulevard and Main Street.

The Wildcats do not play in any specific league and do a lot of travelling throughout the West.

"Travelling everywhere around California and the West is pretty tiring," said senior forward Janine Bahle.

Over spring break the team will travel to San Diego to participate in the Champagne Classic, March 10-12. At that tournament Arizona hopes to size up its talent against some tough teams from California.

"Those schools are our main competition this year," Bahle said. "We have never beaten a team from California, only tied one."

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