'No regrets' despite loss for women's lax

By Gabe Taylor

The second seeded Santa Clara women's lacrosse team saw their hopes of a first place finish at the Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates tournament fade after a 12-10 overtime heartbreaker against 10th seeded Florida.

"We played for 60 minutes, we played hard and we did all we could do," said senior Sarah Merry.

Despite the loss, the Broncos fought back, defeating Colorado State 11-6 in the consolation bracket. Despite the momentum gained, Santa Clara fell to eighth seeded Michigan 11-7, landing a sixth place tournament finish.

"All things considered, a positive season," said head coach Brendan O'Brien, disappointed that injuries throughout the season created bumps in the road to the number one spot.

A pleasant surprise for O'Brien and Merry, however, was the significance the freshmen had on the season. "The freshmen were big value players for the team," said O'Brien. "They filled a lot of roles that we don't typically expect freshmen to do."

The Broncos came into the WDIA tournament with a record of 16-4 overall and 3-0 in the Western Women's Lacrosse League, including two six-game win streaks over the course of the season.

Two victories against Colorado State, who was ranked third in the nation, added to the success of the season, said O'Brien. In addition, Santa Clara knocked off fourth ranked Cal Poly 12-10 prior to the WDIA playoff weekend.

Out of the 20 games played during the regular season, 16 were against top 25 teams. Santa Clara had two regular season victories against two of the nation's top five teams.

"We fought in every game to come back, no matter what," commented Merry.

Senior captain and First Team All-American Sarah Herscovici, led the Broncos to a second place finish in the WWLL.

"She is by far a team leader," said O'Brien, praising her for her dedication and talent, especially during the tournament.

The WWLL additionally honored junior Krista Shaw, Gracie Binder and goalie Renee Eligio.

Eligio compiled a 61.92 save percentage, stopping 174 shots of the 281 attempted.

Binder carried the team offensively with 68 points--40 goals and 28 assists.

Although the season was not all that Merry and her teammates had dreamed of, the team still proved to be a threat to teams across the nation.

"We hoped to come back for the national title, but after four years I think we played our best and we gave it everything we had," said Merry, who played in her last game as a Santa Clara Bronco last Saturday. "I have no regrets."

Contact Gabe Taylor at gtaylor@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918