WDIA: Broncos, Gauchos Vie for Bragging Rights
by David Ely | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | WDIA Poll
There are two different ways for a team to approach a No. 1 vs.
No. 2 ranked showdown.
You can acknowledge the significance of the game and play into the
hype, or you can say that you try to ignore the polls and that
it’s just another tough game in a series of top-tier games on
the schedule.
As No. 1 Santa Clara and No. 2 UC Santa Barbara ready for their
top-ranked clash Saturday in Santa Barbara, Calif., the two
respective coaches are on opposite ends of the spectrum in their
approaches to the game.
UC Santa Barbara coach Paul Ramsey said his team has been hyping
the game all week on campus in hopes of drawing a large crowd.
“Girls have been telling everybody on campus,” Ramsey
said.
Santa Clara coach Brendan O’Brien has taken the more
reserved approach.
“You try to take the polls away from it,” he said.
“I think both Santa Barbara and Santa Clara could be No. 1 at
this point and should be tied.”
But that doesn’t mean the Broncos aren’t looking
forward to their trip down to face the Gauchos.
“Are they excited? Absolutely,” O’Brien
said.
Once the game begins and the pre-game hype takes a backseat to the
action on the field, the winner could be determined by which squad
succeeds at neutralizing the other’s top offensive
weapons.
For UC Santa Barbara, that means finding the right balance between
taking Krista Shaw (33 goals) out of the Broncos attack and not
leaving itself vulnerable to the rest of Santa Clara’s
attackers.
“We need to figure out a way to effectively mark her,”
Ramsey said. “(But) it would be stupid of us to only worry
about (Shaw), because it looks like they’re much more
balanced this year than they have been in the past.”
Santa Clara has five other players with at least 10 goals on the
season.
Slowing down the Broncos will be a tall task for a UC Santa
Barbara squad that gave up 18 goals last weekend against No. 4 UC
Davis.
“We’ve been working on ball defense all week,”
Ramsey said.
But when UC Santa Barbara is on the attack, Santa Clara will be
faced with its own set of defensive obstacles.
O’Brien pointed out Gauchos Maggie Aker and Ashley
Antoon-Algeri as two players that could potentially cause problems
for his team’s defense.
“What do you do with Maggie Aker? What do you do with Ashley
Antoon-Algeri?” O’Brien said.
“(Aker’s) traditionally given us a lot of
trouble… Ashley is super quick. I think she’s going to
give our defense a lot of trouble.”
Aker and Antoon-Algeri have combined for 41 goals in nine games,
and UC Santa Barbara boasts four other players with at least 10
goals.
While opponents have struggled to slow down the Gauchos this
spring, the Broncos have only allowed one team -- Cal Poly -- to
reach double digits in a game this year.
“A big, big focus for us this year is defense,”
O’Brien said. “I think that’s showing in the
amount of goals we’re giving up.”
And though the winner of this game will gain the edge in terms of
WWLL standings and national rankings, there’s a good chance
these two teams will meet again in the postseason.
“I think this is one of many times we’re going to see
them this season,” O’Brien said.
News & Notes
No player on the UC Santa Barbara roster has lost to Santa Clara
during her collegiate career. The Gauchos went 2-0 against the
Broncos in 2009, 1-0 in 2008 and 2-0 in 2007… With its upset
of the Florida club team, Georgia is 4-0 in the SWLL in first
place. The Gators are 3-1 in league play, 5-3 overall… Ever
since Lindenwood lost to UC Santa Barbara 15-14 during the Santa
Barbara Shootout on Feb. 12, the Lions have turned up the intensity
on defense. During their five-game winning streak, the Lions
haven’t allowed more than seven goals in one game.
