Berkeley Defeats Lacrosse

Cal too much for Broncos to eliminate team from playoffs

Jack PriceTHE SANTA CLARAApril 14, 2016

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Santa Clara Men’s Lacrosse team lost to the University of California, Berkeley 4-10  in a devastating loss on Friday night and are now 5-5 overall this season.

The cool night turned into a stormy game throughout the first half.

The weather mirrored the Broncos’ play, improving as time went on.

“Overall our team played pretty (well), minus the first quarter when we went down 0-6, and a couple (of) sloppy mistakes that lead to turnovers,” said sophomore Eli Bonadies.

Bonadies, who suffered a brutal knee injury during the first game of the season, came back on Friday to help out Santa Clara.

“It felt good to finally get back to playing with the team after being out for the majority of the season with a torn meniscus,” Bonadies said. “I was definitely pretty antsy before the game to get on the field and actually start playing. My knee held up, but I wasn’t able to cut as quick or as strong as I wanted to.”

Cal came out hard in the first quarter, scoring two quick goals in the first four minutes,  and was successful in consistently converting crosses into goals.

The first half ended with Cal ahead 6-0.

Santa Clara had many opportunities to score but couldn’t get past Cal’s staunch defense and solid goalie.

Santa Clara’s first goal didn’t come until the third quarter.

Senior and captain Curtis Mackenzie whipped a shot by the goalkeeper to start some momentum for the Broncos.

Unfortunately, Santa Clara was only able to convert three more goals by the end of the game.

Cal went home with a big 10-4 win.

“They beat us, which was tough, because we beat them last year,” said sophomore Indy Hickman, a key defenseman for Santa Clara. “But we’ll finish out the season for our seniors and look for our first .500 plus season in about 10 years.”

Santa Clara takes on Dominican on Saturday, April 23.

The team is excited and hopes to bring home the win.

“As for the rest of the season, we have one game left against Dominican in two weeks. We are going to try and get as many people as healthy as we can since we’ve got quite a few injuries,” Bonadies said. “However, even if we don’t, I still think we have enough playmakers, whether it be a veteran or a young guy stepping up, to beat Dominican.”

Contact Jack Price at jhprice@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.