Women’s lacrosse ends month-long homestand with 7-5 win
A back and forth game between UC Davis and Cal Berkeley resulted in a two point win for the Ags as they put an end to their month-long homestand and pick up their third win in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference (with only one loss).
The hot afternoon was sure to be a difficult obstacle for both teams, but the intensity never dwindled as the leads switched hands three times, beginning and ending with the Aggies. At the half, Cal led with five points against UC Davis’ three, but head coach Tee Ladouceur felt her team never displayed a drop of worry that there was really a threat.
“I think my adrenaline was probably going more than the girls,” Ladouceur said. “But it was one of those days where I was like, ‘The seniors are looking so good right now and they have this calmness about them where it’s like we’re going to be okay.’”
The Aggie seniors managed to score all seven points that were put up against the Bears. Senior midfielder Ellie Delich, senior attacker Courtney Neff and senior midfielder Mary Doyle distributed the points on the board, all with no assists.
“[Neff and Doyle], those two in the midfield, for three ‘midi’s’ to be running back and forth for the whole of the game in this kind of heat; that’s tough,” Ladouceur said.
Delich, who scored the final goal at the end of the game, certainly had a reason to drop her stick to the field at the sound of the final horn. Cal had been given a penalty with thirty seconds left in the game, where they fought desperately to overcome their two point deficit.
“The defensive stop at the end [was the highlight of the game for me],” Delich said.
The senior posted a career-high five points after putting up four last week against Denver on the Jim Sochor field in Aggie Stadium.
“She is sort of the backbone of our attack,” Ladouceur said. “She has really come into her own this season and she wants it bad. She’s not flashy; she’s not all about the points, but if she has to put five points on the board, she’ll do it for her team.”
In contrast to the pride that the first-year coach feels for the senior, the moment was just like any other victory for Delich.
“We never lost our composure,” Delich said. “We knew that we were still in the game and we were going to stay on top. We just stayed calm and kept pushing and then… we prevailed. [The career high] was just icing on the cake.”
Delich also realizes the immense effort the seniors are putting into this season to truly embody their motto of “make our mark.”
“It’s a special class, we are really tight,” Delich said. “We just want to finish this year for each other and finish strong.”
UC Davis is going into their away game against the University of Oregon with a 5-4 overall record, 3-1 in the conference, and is expecting to return with another MPSF win.
“We don’t want to settle for just three wins in the MPSF,” said Ladouceur. “We want to play good Aggie LAX no matter what.”
Written by Veronica Vargo – sports@theaggie.org
