Lacrosse News

UW has successful trip to Western States Tournament

The University of Washington Women's Lacrosse team suffered a heartbreaking double-overtime loss in the semi-final game of the Western States Tournament at UC Davis the weekend March 31 - April 1 to cap a trip to the land of sunshine.

The Huskies opened the tournament against UC Santa Cruz on Saturday. The UW led most of the game but Santa Cruz charged back in the second half to take the game 6-4. Coach Vinca Swanson said the players really learned a lot from this game about the need to play the full field and that lesson helped their performance the rest of the weekend. Lisa Lurie had 2 goals while Krista Lund and Alicia Peterson each added a goal to complete scoring for the Huskies. Tami Wilkerson registered 5 saves in goal.

Next up for the Dawgs was a very decisive 10-3 win against fellow PAC 10 school USC. Applying lessons learned from the Santa Cruz game, UW's wings pulled wide using the space of the field effectively to advantage and using the passing game to move the ball more efficiently against the Trojans. According to Coach Swanson Krista Lund played her best game while tallying 2 goals. Leading the Huskies in scoring was Alicia Peterson with 2 goals and 3 assists. Katie Kirkland added another 2 goals along with an assist. Lise Martin, Jenny O'Neil and Mimy Bailey also each fired in a goal for the Dawgs. Alexsis Scott helped out with an assist. While a strong defensive performance limited Tami Wilkerson's saves to 3 for the game.

Losing Krista Lund to a mysterious illness that sent her to the intensive care unit at the hospital was a big adjustment for the team. Down to only 3 substitutes, Coach Swanson had to shuffle the line-up to cover for Lund's absence against the Aggie's Club team. The Huskies performed well again; prevailing by a 10-3 score using the same kind of action - better passing, catching and cuts - that worked against USC. Lise Martin and Lisa Lurie each pitched in 2 goals, while Alicia Peterson had a goal and an assist. Also scoring was Katie Kirkland. Another strong defensive performance limited goalie Tami Wilkerson's saves to 2.

The 2 wins against the Trojans and the Aggies set up a Sunday showdown against Pomona-Pitzer in the tournament semi-final-loser-out game. As the final score would indicate the game was tight the whole way - with Huskies up 1 at halftime. According to Coach Swanson, the Huskies did a good job of challenging the ball and creating a lot of turnovers. The Dawgs were down with the end of the game in sight but came charging back to knot it 6-6 at the end of regulation. At this time Coach Swanson had to leave for her Seattle Women's Team game, leaving the Huskies coachless-in-Davis for overtime. The first overtime ended with teams still tied at 6. Pomona-Pitzer finally pulled out the winning 7th goal in second overtime with the Huskies having possession in a position to tie when the clock ran out. Jenny O'Neil led Husky scorers with 2 goals. Katie Kirkland, Lise Martin, Alexsis Scott and Lisa Lurie each added a goal for the Dawgs. Alicia Peterson, Mimy Bailey and Sarah Childer each helped out with an assist apiece. Tami Wilkerson was strong in goal again with 4 saves.