WDIA: Bears Roar into First D-II Tournament
by David Ely | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
Enough attention has been given to the WDIA Division I teams
these past few months. Every week someone from the top ranks has
been the dominant story -- from Santa Clara to Virginia Tech Club
to Lindenwood.
We have a good idea about what to expect during next week’s
WDIA Division I Nationals in Scottsdale, Ariz. And even if there
are a bevy of upsets, everything we’ve learned this season
should make any outcome far from shocking.
What will be a mystery, however, will be the WDIA Division II
Nationals that take place at the same time as the Division I
tournament.
This is the inaugural Division II tournament, making next week the
first time any of the girls on the eight teams in that bracket have
competed for a national title.
Cal-Berkley Club enters the tourney as the No. 1 seed and will
play No. 8 St. Benedict in the first round.
The other three matchups on Thursday, May 6 are: No. 2 Oakland
(Mich.) vs. No. 7 Southern Methodist; No. 3 Loyola (Md.) vs. No. 6
North Carolina Club and No. 4 San Diego vs. No. 5 Denver Club.
Lacrosse Magazine Online got a chance to catch up with Cal-Berkley
Club coach Rachea Perkins after the Golden Bears defeated the Cal
Poly SLO ‘B’ team 9-7 for the WWLL Division 2
championship on April 18.
*****
Has the addition of a Division II Nationals made this year
any different?
I don’t think it’s made it too different. We focus one
game at a time. So we focused on this and now we’ll focus on
Nationals.
Tell us about your team.
I think that we don’t really have a weak link is the big
thing. Everybody is expected to play at a level, and that’s
what makes our team great. There’s not one standout. We have
a full team of standouts. I have full faith in every one of these
girls to put them on and to take over.
Did you expect to have such a successful season this
year?
We had a really good season starting last year, so I think I had
high hopes for this year. We got a bunch of new girls that had a
lot of experience already, so I did expect to be very competitive.
I wanted to try to move up to D-I next year… I think they
knew we expected that, so it kind of lit a fire under their ass and
said, ‘Hey, our coaches expect this, and this is what
we’re going to give.’”
*****
This season was the Golden Bears second as an official team.
Perkins said that two years ago some students decided that they
wanted a club team and created a provisional team without a coach.
In 2009, Cal added a coach, and Perkins became the coach for the
2010 season.
The Golden Bears enter the tournament with a 15-1 record, their
only blemish a 14-7 loss to Santa Clara on Jan. 29.
While Cal has enjoyed some success during its two years and at the
Division II level, the Golden Bears will move up to Division I next
year.
WDIA News & Notes
No. 7 seed Brigham Young played No. 9 seed
Colorado on Monday in the final game of the
regular season for both squads. The outcome of the game had no
bearing on Nationals seeding, but the Buffaloes’ 13-11 win
just adds to the feeling that they’re a dangerous squad next
week. Colorado won its final six games of the season and will play
No. 8 seed Georgia on Wednesday, May 5. BYU takes
on No. 10 seed Florida Club in the first round.
