Lacrosse team ranked among nation's best

By Mary Anne Sunseri

"Nobody thought they could do it," Cal Poly Head Coach Eric Ott said, referring to Santa Clara's success at nationals last year.

"Everyone was against them, and they were all about that," Head Coach Brendan O'Brien said in reference to his players. "They were out there to prove people wrong."

At the Western Women's Lacrosse League Championships Division 1 tournament last year, Santa Clara took down high-ranking schools University of California at San Diego and University of California at Los Angeles.

"Santa Clara really surprised everybody," Ott said. "They were just slaughtering teams left and right at nationals."

Although the Broncos lost to Cal Poly 10-4 in the finals, they had raised their game to a new level of play. In less than three years, the team went from being completely unranked to breaking into the nation's top 10. The success of the team has given the girls a new self-confidence, which has proven to be both beneficial and detrimental.

"I think a lot of people were riding our success last year, and it's hurt them," Assistant Coach Drew Whyte said. An example of this lack of killer drive came last weekend during the University of Southern California and Chico State games. Despite the two wins the Broncos gained, both players and coaches alike were less than pleased about the performance.

"It just lacked luster," Assistant Coach Lauren Russell said. "We should be beating them (USC) by 14 or 15 points."

Despite the unenthusiastic win over USC, the team looks to a past match for motivation on how they can perform up to potential. Ironically, this inspirational game was a loss to the University of California at Santa Barbara, the team that is currently ranked first in the nation.

"That was probably the best game that we played, even though we lost by three," senior co-captain and four-year player Lauren Follett said. "We were predicted to lose by nine."

According to Ott, UC Santa Barbara is expected to win the national championship. However, as the past has shown, it is under these conditions -- when the Broncos are not favored to win -- that Santa Clara thrives.

"We've finally gotten ranked low enough that when we played the No. 1 team last week, we came from behind and nearly beat them," O'Brien said. "They (the team) like being under-ranked and having to prove themselves."

Over the course of the season in tough games like the ones against Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara has continually shown that they are an experienced team with a lot of talent.

With the increase in popularity of lacrosse in the western states, more girls with past lacrosse experience are joining the team. This contrasts the senior class, half of which simply walked onto the field and picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time their freshman year at Santa Clara.

"We really started at a minimal level," senior Brenna Sweeney, who is in her fourth year of play, said. "Now all the seniors, especially all those who start, are on an amazing level compared to their freshman year."

All of the coaches cite the seniors as great leaders for the team. They play hard and are great examples for the rookies to learn from.

"We have incredible people who have matured into great players," Assistant Coach Al Torabi said. "Lauren Follett is one of them. Brenna Sweeney is back from a huge knee injury. Jenny Lee and Lauren Kida are phenomenal. They're absolutely reliable. You know when they're in there that they're not going to give up easy goals."

Another strength for Santa Clara is team chemistry. The team has been practicing nearly every day for two hours since the beginning of the school year.

"This year most of all, I feel like we have a really strong team bond, which is interesting because we haven't had quite as much opportunity for off-the-field social time," Sweeney said.

Each member of the team, including the coaches, attends each practice and typically plays official matches or tournaments both Saturday and Sunday. This leaves little time for recreational activities like parties and hanging out, but the team knows that it will take all the extra effort to make it to nationals.

"Everyone's on the same page, everyone's sacrificing the same thing. We're all in the same place with the same goals," Sweeney said.

This weekend, the women play their last two home matches of the season. On Saturday the Broncos will face the University of Arizona at noon, and on Sunday will compete against Arizona State at 10 a.m. Both matches are on Bellomy Field.

Coaches and players alike know that if they continue to play strong, nationals is well within their reach.

"If they (we) make nationals, there's probably three or four teams in the country who can win the entire thing, and Santa Clara's one of them," O'Brien said.