Cal Poly, Once A Dynasty, Could Be Dark Horse
by David Ely | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | WDIA Nationals Blog
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D-I First Round - Wednesday (all times PDT) No. 14 Oregon vs. No. 3 UCSB - 5 p.m. |
When picking a dark horse, there are a few criteria one must
factor into one's choice.
The team needs to have a specific calling card. Maybe it’s a
stingy defense. Maybe it’s a prolific offense. Or maybe
it’s a knack for scooping up ground balls, and thus limiting
the number of possessions for the opponent.
Another thing to consider is the pattern of success the team
displayed throughout the season. Was the squad consistent? Did it
have a long winning streak? Would it win a couple of games, but
then lose a couple of games?
Then, one must look at the bracket itself. What would a path to
the championship game possibly look like? Are the matchups
favorable?
So given those terms, who looks to be the prime dark horse
candidate in this week’s US Lacrosse WDIA National
Championship, presented by Harrow Sports, in Scottsdale, Ariz.?
Signs point to No. 5 seed Cal Poly, which once won seven
straight WDIA national championships before falling the last two
years.
The Mustangs have a potent offense that could wreck havoc
throughout the tournament. Cal Poly scored 10 or more goals in 13
of its 16 games this year.
“We like to push the pace,” Cal Poly coach Robert
Novorolsky said.
The Mustangs have won their fair share of games, including six of
seven toward the end of the season before back-to-back losses in
the WWLL tournament.
And perhaps most importantly, there’s a clear-cut path for
Cal Poly to a potential semifinal showdown against No. 1 seed Santa
Clara.
First up is an opening-round matchup against No. 12 seed Texas on
Wednesday.
Texas (9-3) hasn’t faced the kind of competition the
Mustangs saw day after day in the WWLL, and the Longhorns are 0-3
in their games against teams that made Nationals.
Should Cal Poly beat Texas, it should see No. 4 seed UC Davis in
the second round for the third time this season.
The Mustangs beat the Aggies, 10-9, on March 7 and then lost to UC
Davis, 8-7, in overtime in the WWLL tournament.
After that loss, Novorolsky said the two teams are so evenly
matched because they both have a lot of team speed.
A contrarian might point out the Mustangs’ less than
desirable end to the season (back-to-back losses against UC Santa
Barbara and UC Davis).
But each loss was by just one goal, and Cal Poly had more than two
weeks to work things out before Nationals.
Asked what his team needed to improve on to get ready for
Nationals, Novorlsky replied, “Just coming together as a
team. We went away at spring break and we had a good time. Find the
passion… We got pushed around by two really good teams. Both
of the games are right there next to each other.”
The main area that Cal Poly must fix is offense. The Mustangs
scored just nine goals in their loss to the Gauchos and just seven
against the Aggies.
That won’t cut it in Arizona, and Novorlsky said after those
losses his club would work on its offensive efficiency before its
game against Texas.
“We ran into two really good goalies [against UC Santa
Barbara and UC Davis],” he said. “The girls will put in
the work outside of the field on the shooting, and I think
that’s a main focus of the next two weeks. Making sure that
you don’t get laxed out and making sure that you stay
aggressive.”
