Lacrosse primed for nationals

By Chris Furnari

Famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said, "I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen."

Not only does this quote characterize the women's lacrosse team, but also perhaps their entire season.

As the team prepares for their trip to nationals for the third straight year, more focus is being placed on the intangibles: dedication, hard work, and unremitting devotion to the things they want to see happen.

"They have had their ups and downs this year. I have believed in them since day one, but it took them 'till playoffs to believe in themselves, and that's when they started playing their best ball," said Head Coach Brendan O'Brien.

Along with the success that the women's team has achieved, they have also benefitted from various activities that strengthened the team unity. While their 5-7 overall record may not reflect a surplus of talent, the team has seen a positive shift in morale during the latter part of the season.

"This team has been kind of hit or miss, and that's the number one thing you will hear about us. We have been inconsistent. But when playoffs came, I got excited because you could finally see the team coming together, and we started believing in ourselves," said Hayley Hartstein, senior midfielder and club president.

After losing over half a dozen seniors from last year's squad, the true test of the team's strength was combining new freshman talent with senior leadership to produce another run at the national championship game. And they have done just that.

"This year's tournament of 16 teams is probably the best in terms of top quality talent in the three years that we have gone," O'Brien said.

Santa Clara earned a bid to the 2006 national tournament to be held in Plano, Texas, this weekend after Missouri dropped out of the competition. Eleven teams make the national tournament as automatic-qualifiers out of the 11 respective regions. The other five teams that make the tournament receive at-large bids based on strength of schedule, records and polls.

Unfortunately for the Broncos, they were the sixth at-large bid and were on the outside looking in.

"When I found out that we didn't make it, I felt like I got broken up with. It was just devastating. As a senior, it was difficult to not be going to nationals, especially after watching the entire team come together so well during playoffs," said Hartstein.

The team was ecstatic when news of Missouri declining their bid reached Santa Clara.

"To find out that Missouri dropped out, and that we're going and actually improving the tournament was great," said Hartstein. "I am really excited, and I think the team is going to make a huge showing and be very successful."

So, what's the key to a first round upset over the sixth-seeded Colorado Buffaloes?

"Senior leadership. We have gotten a lot of that this year, especially from our team captains," said O'Brien.

The Broncos will be relying on leadership and veteran experience as they make their push for another national title game. The women reached the final in 2004 and last year reached the quarterfinals, defeating Maryland. The Broncos also squared off against highly touted UC Santa Barbara and played the Gauchos within a goal.

Of course, winning is always the main objective, especially with a trip of this size and the financial commitment.

As a club sport, the Bronco women receive no funding from the Athletic Department. In addition to nearly $1,000 in membership dues this year, the Broncos had to fundraise about $19,000 in order to make the trip to nationals a reality -- a testament to the team's unrelenting desire for success.

"I hate hearing the phrase 'you're just a club sport,' it makes me cringe. I think since we pay to play, we play harder. We have some fight and some ownership for it," Hartstein said.

The team received about $6,500 from Associated Students, sold T-shirts and held a car wash to raise the remainder of the money needed to travel to Texas. Wright's words are applicable again: "an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen."

"We are here for a reason, and, even though we don't get money, it puts everything into perspective. We want to come out and have fun, but it's tiring at the same time. When we all want the weekend off, we are out washing cars, but it only gives us another opportunity to have more bonding time," said senior captain Jennifer Lee.

The Broncos will bring this sort of attitude when they square off against an aggressive Colorado squad Thursday morning. If victorious, the Broncos will most likely play third-seeded Pittsburgh, who is 18-1 overall. The Panther's only loss came against Colorado State, who has the first seed.

They say everything is bigger in Texas.

Nothing will be bigger in Texas this week than the heart of the Broncos lacrosse team.

Contact Chris Furnari at (408) 551-1918 or cfurnari@scu.edu