Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
#1 BYU and #5 UCSB played a hard fought game on Friday, May 18 for the rights to play in the 2007 MCLA Championship Game. The Cougars came out on top thanks to a seven-goal scoring streak in the middle of the contest. The final score was 12-8 and BYU is set to play in the National Title Game on Saturday May 19, 2007 against #3 University of Oregon.
The Gaucho's found the net first when Cache Jones (Marin, CA/Tamalpais) was left wide open during an unsettled situation while Santa Barbara was clearing the ball. UCSB scored again when Brenden Sindell (Malibu, CA/Malibu) found Ryan Brent (Mission Viejo/El Toro) curling on the crease for a point blank shot. After one quarter of play the Gauchos were ahead with a 2-0 lead.
BYU started the second quarter with an unsettled goal during a fast break where a nice check by a UCSB defenseman left the ball rolling in front of the cage for Ted Ferrin (Holladay, UT/Olympus) to pick up and put in the net. The Cougars tied up the score a few minutes later when Steve Naegle (Pleasanton, CA/Foothills) rebounded the ball after a shot and ripped a laser into the goal.
Mark Davis (Potomac, MD/Bullis) scored next for Cougars by dodging and curling around the front of the cage giving BYU the lead. Justin Hier (Poway, CA/Poway) extended the lead when he dodged to the cage and dumped to Davis for his second goal. BYU had a 4-2 advantage going into halftime.
The Cougars continued their scoring streak in the second half when Elliot Grow connected with Tyler Monteath (Littleton, CO/Columbine) for another score. Less than a minute later Davis scored his third goal for BYU when he dodged from the side of the cage and slipped the ball into the net. Davis followed with another sneaky goal on a bounce shot that hit a few players including the goalie before it touched the net.
UCSB finally had an answer when Nick Stratton (Oakland, CA/O'Dowd) rolled inside on his defenseman threw a few fakes and scored the goal. Dustin Benesch (San Diego, CA/Patrick Henry) scored an unassisted goal next for the Gauchos followed by a nice bounce shot from Sindell giving him two goals on the day. BYU put a damper in UCSB's comeback when Davis found Ferrin cutting towards the goal for an easy top shelf shot. The third period ended with a score of 8-5 as the Cougars continued to lead.
BYU started the last quarter strong when Grow dodged from behind the cage and earned topside for the goal. Jack Miller (Atherton, CA/Menlo) scored the next goal by dodging from the top of the box and putting the Gauchos within three. The Cougars came back scoring right off the face when Hier found Ferrin cutting towards the goal. A few moments later Jarom Winn (Hockessin, DE/Alexis I. DuPont) continued the scoring for BYU when he beat his man one-on-one and shot the ball low.
UCSB scored next on a textbook fast break goal where Stratton connected with Sindell for the score. Davis then scored an unassisted goal with 2:23 left on the clock giving him five goals on the day. James Guzick (Carmel, CA/Robert Louis Stevenson) a defender scored the last goal of the game when his desperation pass took a nasty bounce and flew past BYU goalie Christian Kikumoto (Greenwood Village, CO/Cherry Creek). BYU won the semifinal game with a score of 12-8.
BYU will face #3 Oregon in the MCLA Championship game at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas, TX on Saturday, May 19, 2007.
To follow the Cougars as they make a run for the National Title please visit the following links:
http://byulacrosse.com (Live Online Stats) http://www.collegelax.us/http://mclachamptx.com/index.html (Official Site for the MCLA National Championships)
