Slip-up costs women's lacrosse national championship bid

In the blink of an eye, the women's club lacrosse team saw their national title aspirations come to an end.

Santa Clara concluded a phenomenal season with an abrupt ending, but the team remains focused on the positives from the trip to the Women's Division Intercollegiate Associate's National Championship this past weekend in Arizona.

The Broncos headed into the tournament as the No. 1 seed, knocking off West Chester University in the first round, before falling to the No. 9 University of Colorado in the quarterfinals. After being ranked No. 1 in the nation, the team's early exit was unexpected.

"It was especially hard losing in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year," said senior Captain Jenna Choquette. "We didn't play our best and unfortunately we picked the wrong game and it cost us our season."

In the tournament opener against West Chester University, the Broncos stumbled out of the gate, allowing the Golden Rams a 2-0 lead. Despite the rough start, the squad battled back, cruising to a comfortable 13-7 lead. Krista Shaw and Mayan Zeitlin led the way for Santa Clara's opening win, notching five and three goals, respectively.

In the second round Santa Clara was matched up with the University of Colorado.

The Broncos found themselves in a tight game, but they managed to take a 5-4 lead into halftime. The second half proved to be their downfall, with Colorado handing Santa Clara a 12-9 loss, for their third consecutive second round exit.

It was a bitter outcome for the Broncos, whose high expectations of a National Championship were dashed by the loss to the Buffalos.

Still, there was positivity to be taken from how far the team traveled in the tournament, even if the ending was less than satisfactory.

"Year after year our program keeps getting better, but I think people across the country now realize that we're the real deal after the successful season we had," said Choquette. "We still were the first team in program history to reach a number one ranking, finished with a program-best record and our first league championship."

The loss ended the Bronco's National Championship hopes, but the team was still able to take the field for two last games. Regrouping from the loss, the Broncos snagged both consolation games, with wins over UC Davis (14-11), and UC Santa Barbara (11-9) in overtime, for a fifth place finish.

"It's incredibly difficult to lose so early in the week and have to turn around and play two more days...(but) finishing the week off with two wins, the last in OT, was probably the best way we could have ended the week," said Choquette.

Santa Clara registered a 21-2 record this season; the only two losses coming from the aforementioned Colorado game and against UC Davis in overtime during the regular season. But the Broncos took down the Aggies in the WWLL regional playoffs to avenge their previous loss.

In addition to the team's successes, including a league championship, national exposure, wins over top ranked teams and a No. 1 seed in the national tournament, many players were recognized for their success on the field. Gracie Binder, Krista Shaw, Jamie Staudt and Renee Eligio were named First Team All-Americans, with Maggie Burke and Ellen Metzger earning second team honors.

Shaw was the WDIA's national player of the year, Eligio the top goaltender and Burke was honored as the best rookie.

Choquette summed up her final season at Santa Clara by saying, "It was great run and I think this season will only help us as far as the future of the program, especially when it comes to bringing in prospective players and motivating future teams to strive to be better than we were."

Contact Jackson Morgus at jmorgus@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.