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SPORTS
| UPDATED JAN. 28
Club sports
Lacrosse team 1-1 after season opener
Saturday
Captain Eric Koosha had five goals
and one assist in the 7-3 victory Saturday
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| The Shorthorn: Casey Horn |
| Maverick Danny Le, left, and a Houston
defender battle over control of the ball Sunday afternoon
at the Lacrosse game against Houston University at the
Intramural Sports Complex. |
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by Dustin
Eberhart
The Shorthorn staff
The UTA lacrosse team started its 2003 campaign Saturday with a
victory over Southwestern University at the Intramural Complex but
dropped their Sunday game to Houston.
Eric Koosha, team captain and president, paced the Mavs against
Southwestern with five goals and one assist in the 7-3 victory.
Koosha accredited his performance and the victory to an overall
team effort.
“Instead of playing more of a one-on-one game, we’re passing
the ball and shooting well,” he said.
Gary Robinson, first-year head coach, said the team has gotten off
to a good start despite the loss.
“Considering it was our first two games of the season, we did
really well,” he said. “At the beginning of the season,
everything is always rusty with guys coming off the Winter Break
and adapting to a new offense.”
Other scorers in the game were Brandon Cranford with a goal and
one assist. Kevin Broome also tossed in a goal and two assists.
Broome currently leads the team in assists with three.
The game against Southwestern was a divisional game, meaning the
team has a head start on the playoff standings, Robinson said.
“It was a really good win for us — considering the past
two years they have beaten us pretty well,” he said.
When the two teams met last year, Southwestern won by a score of
10-3 and in the previous year, UTA lost, 13-3.
Others contributing to the victory were John Williams with two assists,
Marc Wilson with one assist and goalie Chad Tolentino had 11 saves.
Sunday against Houston, Koosha led the attack again, putting in
one goal and one assist.
“Our defense has been solid for two years now,” Koosha,
a medical technology junior said. “But we’re still not
running our offense to the fullest.”
On Sunday, Houston led at halftime 1-0 with each team scoring two
goals in the second half, edging the Mavericks 3-2.
“The Houston game was a really tight, tough, physical game,”
Robinson said. “In lacrosse games, scoring is usually in the
teens, so by the score, you could tell this was a tight game.”
The weather conditions didn’t help either. It rained lightly
on Saturday and Sunday, with highs in the mid-30’s.
“With a wet surface, it slows down the playing field to where
the guys can’t run as fast — you’re a little more
lethargic when it’s also cold,” the coach said.
UTA now looks to UT-Dallas, who they will play at noon on Saturday
at the UTA Intramural Fields. In the team’s history, UTA has
squared off with UTD two times, losing the first match, 10-6, and
winning last year 9-6.
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