NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Senior Jenn Evans
struggles to get by an opponent from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Saturday.
By Jeff Eisenberg
Daily Bruin Contributor
When approaching a wounded animal, naturalists often advise us
to shrink down to appear as harmless as possible. Perhaps the UC
San Diego women’s lacrosse team took that advice to
heart.
Playing with a sense of urgency befitting an 0-2 squad, the UCLA
battered the visiting Tritons 16-2 on Saturday, earning its most
lopsided victory in over two years.
“I think last week was a wake-up call,” Bruin head
coach Johanna Williams said. “We really realized that we need
to come out and play our game. We got ahead, stayed ahead and
worked hard the whole time”
Senior Alison Lee was the focal point offensively throughout the
game for UCLA, carving up the Tritons on her way to a team-high six
goals. She single-handedly controlled the flow of the game, darting
through the most narrow openings in the defense, or feeding open
teammates in front of the net.
“This is a really big turnaround for our season,”
said Lee, the team’s leading scorer. “We had been
really absent-minded on the field, but (today) we just
clicked.”
The outcome of the contest was never in doubt. After
relinquishing early leads last weekend against both UC Santa
Barbara and Cal Poly SLO, the Bruins unleashed an onslaught of
offense against UCSD.
Senior forward Nicole Everett opened the scoring early in the
first half when she gained control of the ball behind the Triton
net and stuffed it past the goaltender from point-blank range.
Everett’s efforts motivated the entire team, as the Bruins
tallied the game’s first seven scores and led 10-1 by
halftime.
More noteworthy than the outcome of the game however, was
UCLA’s level of domination. The Bruins controlled the ball
for almost the entire game, maintaining relentless pressure on the
opposing defense.
“This was exactly how I’d been asking them to play
for the last couple weeks,” Williams said. “Bringing
the ball down, slowing it up, running our plays, pressuring on
defense. They just did everything I asked them to do.”
The wide margin of victory was crucial for the Bruins because it
allowed Williams to substitute without cause for trepidation.
Twenty-two players are new to the team, and many of them had never
played lacrosse prior to this season.
This experience could be vital as soon as next weekend when UCLA
seeks revenge against an aggressive Cal Poly SLO squad that handed
them a 6-5 setback last weekend.
“Its going to be a huge game,” said Lee. “They
are the only team in the league that plays a zone defense, so we
will prepare for that all week. They are really strong across the
field.”
Williams is very confident in her squad after their inspired
performance against UCSD.
“I know it’s in us,” she said. “If we
execute and play the way we did (on Saturday), we can be right
there with Cal Poly.”