Women's lacrosse advances at WDIA

By Matthew Cucuzza

The Santa Clara women's club lacrosse team battled through untimely injuries all season long, but that didn't stop them from earning the No. 2 seed in the 16-team Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates Lacrosse National Championship.

The Broncos played No. 15 UConn for the first time ever in Wednesday's first-round game and defeated the Huskies 24-10 at the Scottsdale Sports Complex in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Santa Clara's 24 goals were a season-high. The team was led by junior co-captain Jenna Choquette's 6 goals. Sophomore Gracie Binder tallied 4 goals and 4 assists and sophomore midfielder Kayln Ushman added 4 goals.

The Broncos will take on No. 10 Florida Thursday at 10 a.m.

Florida advanced to the second round of the Nationals after upsetting No. 7 Lindenwood.

The WDIA championship game is set for May 9 at 12:30 p.m.

Santa Clara, who earned the sixth seed in the last year's tournament, fell 13-9 to No. 3 Colorado in the second round last season. This year's No. 2 seed is the highest ever for Santa Clara.

The Broncos could have earned the No. 1 seed this season had they defeated UC Santa Barbara in the Western Women's Lacrosse League Championship game on April 19, but Santa Clara fell 12-10 and Santa Barbara earned one of seven automatic bids to the WDIA tournament and the No. 1 seed.

Santa Clara earned one of nine at-large bids.

The club lacrosse team entered the WDIA tournament without four regular players: junior midfielders Maggie Spreitzer, Claire O'Leary and Megan Markee, and freshman attacker Anna Callaghan.

"We have 19 girls, they're all beaten up, broken and they're fighting," said head coach Brendan O'Brien.

O'Brien said one injured player may return in time to play in the tournament, but there's no rush. Santa Clara has depended on its younger players to carry some of the load all year.

"We've had freshmen step up into those roles where in previous years we didn't have the depth," said O'Brien.

"The freshmen have been a huge part of this team," he said.

O'Brien was referring to attacker Maria Pestana, midfielder Lauren Murray and defender Nicole Grazioli, all freshmen, who filled in for the team's injured starters.

Pestana ranks third on the team in scoring with 33 goals and 18 assists. Sophomore Gracie Binder leads the team with 43 goals and 34 assists.

Co-captain Krista Shaw is second with 58 goals and 9 assists.

Last season, Shaw was named to the All-American First Team, National Midfielder of the Year and the WWLL Division I Most Valuable Player.

O'Brien credits the leadership of his four captains -- Shaw, Sarah Herscovici, Margaux Chan and Jenna Choquette -- with keeping the team upbeat.

"Without really strong leadership it's hard to guide a team and get a team in line game in game out, willing to compete and work hard," said O'Brien. "It comes from your leaders."

Herscovici and Shaw, who was also named a First Team All Star this year, cite the team's chemistry as a major factor for their success.

"We get along really well. We hang out all time. We're kind of like a cult," said Herscovici. "We're our own sorority."

The annual tournament is the biggest WDIA event of the women's lacrosse season.

Road trips do not come cheap.

Since the club does not receive funding like NCAA sports, the team needed to raise an extra $16,000 to go to the WDIA National Championship in addition to the typical fundraising the team undertakes all year.

O'Brien said the team was close but came up a little short.

A 2001 graduate of Santa Clara, O'Brien took the reins of the university's women's lacrosse team in 2002. He said this year's team is one of the most complete he has ever coached.

"When I first started, everyone just came out to play, to be a part of something, and now they want to win," O'Brien said. "That's the biggest thing about this team -- they want it real bad."

O'Brien also noted that Santa Clara has competed with success in past WDIA tournaments despite a smaller pool of potential players.

"We're always the smallest enrollment," said O'Brien. "We always play these big universities with 10,000-plus, 20,000-plus. We've got 5,000 undergrads and we're a team who's around consistently."

Contact Matthew Cucuzza at (408) 551-1918 or mcucuzza@scu.edu.