The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, March 23, 2001 Page: 26 of 32
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26
THE RICE THRESHER SPORTS FRIDAY, MARCH 23,2001
Men's lacrosse scores two wins, prepares for playoff run
by Jake Robson
THRESHER STAFF
No one can say that the men's club lacrosse team can't deal
with adversity. Last weekend, the Owls overcame several key
injuries, the fatigue from playing three games in two cities in
two days and terrible weather to defeat Baylor University and
Tulane University, dropping only a decision to a strong Univer-
sity of Missouri club.
Rice took on Baylor on Friday afternoon in the weekend's
only conference match, making it the must-win game of the
weekend. Rice jumped out to an early lead on goals from
sophomore George McGuirk and senior Paul Aronson.
Aronson's goal marked his return from a broken collarbone
suffered at the beginning of the semester.
Rice dominated on the offensive end and during set plays,
but Baylor owned the transition game, scoring several uncon-
tested, breakaway goals to keep the game close. Though Rice
trailed at points in the second half, a goal by senior James
Radford with three minutes remaining looked as if it would be
the game-winner, but a Baylor goal in the next minute sent the
game to sudden death overtime.
In the extra period, junior Ben Amis stepped up, taking the
ball hard to the goal through several defenders before hurling
the ball past the Baylor goalie to give Rice a 9-8 win.
After the win, the Owls drove to New Orleans for Saturday's
round-robin, non-conference tournament. McGuirk, Amis,
junior Chris Glass and freshman Mark Watabe all sat out
Saturday's games due to bruises and injuries. Though none
of the injuries are expected to be serious, Rice took the
opportunity to give some of the team's role players some
game experience without putting its conference record on the
line.
In Saturday morning's game, Rice's inexperience was evi-
dent, as the Owls fell 12-1 to a more experienced, less fatigued
Missouri club. The night game, the first in Rice history, ended
better, as Rice defeated host Tulane 9-7. Senior captain Brian
Nash recorded a hat trick, junior Matt Ludwig added two goals
and sophomore Phil McDaniel got his first Rice goal. Reserve
goalkeeper sophomore Trevor Lavelle and the Rice defense
held strong in the night game, holding off a second-half surge
from Tulane.
"We got a little banged up this weekend, but there were a
ton of positives as well," coach Joey Olivier said. "It was great
to get Paul back and we found out that we have some reserves
r
1*
LAURA WIGINTON/THRFSHER
The men's lacrosse team took a 9-8 overtime victory over Baylor University Mar. 16. The Owls host Southwest Texas State
University in a conference match tomorrow at 1 p.m.
that can really play. It's great for us to play a lot of games
because we can see where we are, and where we want to be.
Hopefully we can keep improve and start beating clubs like
Missouri."
Rice goes back to conference action this weekend at
home against Southwest Texas State University tomorrow
at 1 p.m.
"We're right back at it this weekend in another must-win
game for the playoffs," Nash said. "Hopefully we'll have the
injured guys back at full strength and we'll be able to get
another win. The fan support has been great, so we're glad
that we've got them on our home turf. We all feel like we've
put in so much effort this semester that we have a chance to
win every time out, and this will be no exception."
Injuries, fielding Owls'
most pressing concerns
BASEBALL, from Page 24
The other side of the coin is that
such a grueling stretch will likely
wear the team down, especially with
three straight weekend road trips.
In fact, three of the team's nine
days off will be spent traveling to
WAC seriesatFort Worth,Sanjose,
Calif., and Reno, Nev.
"We're going to be some tired
kids, especially after those three
straight road trips," sophomore re-
liever Steven Herce said. "We're
definitely going to be into baseball."
The mid-season stretch has gone
relatively smoothly so far. First, the
Owls swept three games from San
Jose State, which shared last year's
WAC championship with Rice, last
weekend.
Then they edged 16th-ranked
Baylor University in a wild 8-7
ballgame on Tuesday before falling
to the University of Houston 4-3 on
Wednesday.
The four wins in five games have
given Rice a bit of momentum.
"We couldn't have a better way to
start off this period," senior catcher
Phillip Ghutzman said. "Hopefully
it'll give us some juic- and we'll be
able to withstand it."
If Rice hopes to emerge from this
part of its schedule mostly un-
scathed, the team must play better
defense.
The Owls have made an error in
14 straight games, including a sea-
son-worst five errors against Baylor
and two more against UH.
"You've just got to believe that
they're better than that," Graham
said. "It's been unbelievable. But I
know we're a better defensive team
because we've got guys that have
been skilled, always.
"Surely, we're at rock bottom
now. It's bound to sting their pride,
so I'm sure they'll work at it."
Injuries are also a slight con-
cern for Rice. Freshman second
baseman Jose F-nrique Cruz
(sprained ankle) and senior pitcher
Jon Skaggs (strained abdominal
muscle) are bothered by minor in-
WAC STANDINGS
(first record is conference
record, second is overall)
Rice
TCU
Fresno St.
Nevada
SJSU
Hawaii
11-1
8-2
6 - 3
7 - 7
5-6
22 - 6
17-9
20-10
13-13
15-9
3-12 8-16
Hawaii-Hilo 3-12 4-19
juries, but both should play this
weekend.
The status of senior infielder Matt
Fox (concussion) is still up in the
air.
Meanwhile, senior Jeff Nichols
may be on the verge of completing
his comeback from shoulder sur-
gery by making his return to the
weekend rotation.
Sophomore Jonathan Gonzalez
and junior Philip Tribe have manned
Rice's third-starter spot all year, but
Graham said he may start Nichols in
this weekend's series against Fresno
State University.
All three are pitching well enough
to make a case for the starting rota-
tion, which Ghutzman said is a nice
problem to have.
"I think Jeffs ready," Ghutzman
said. "He's throwing with abso-
lutely zero pain, and he's got bet-
ter stuff every time he goes out
there. I don't think there's any
doubt he's ready.
"But I think Philip Tribe might
have an argument, and I think
Jonathan Gonzalez might have an
argument. But that doesn't cause
problems for anyone but the coach.
Let those three guys go out there
and pitch great every time. It's a
good deal. It can't be anything but
positive."
Senior righthander Kenny Baugh
is slated to start tonight's opener at
7 p.m., and Skaggs — barring an
unexpected problem with his injury
—will start tomorrow's game, which
begins at 2 p.m.
m
■
Mm" fzf
LAURA WIGINTON/ THRFSHFH
Sophomore Laura Van Wagoner moves upfield Saturday in a 13-9 overtime loss to Baylor University. Baylor has
defeated the Owls in overtime in each of the teams' last three meetings.
Women's lacrosse falls to Baylor 13-9
by Jake Robson
THRESHER STAFF
The women's club lacrosse team
just can't seem to get over the hump
against Baylor University. For the
third time in two seasons, Rice lost
to Baylor in overtime, this time by a
13-9 final score.
Sophomore Kirsten Schatz con-
tributed three goals in a row in the
first half, and a solid defensive effort
led by junior Annie Huang helped
the Owls build a 7-5 halftime lead.
Rice dominated much of the sec-
ond half as well, but the Bears con-
trolled the final minutes of the game.
Baylor scored the game-tying goal
late in regulation and then took over
in overtime.
In women's lacrosse, overtime is
comprised of two 3-minute periods.
In the first, Baylor reeled off three
straight goals and Rice never recov-
ered.
"In the first period, I guess we just
lost our momentum," Huang said.
"We never got back into the game."
Losing three straight overtime
games to the same team is a tough pill
to swallow — but the Owls know that
they're close to breaking through.
"We were playing some of the
best lacrosse we've played yet this
season," Schatz said. "But unfortu-
nately we kind of stalled at some
point in the second half and allowed
them to score a bunch of goals. It's a
tough loss, but we'll get back to prac-
tice this week and work on our con-
ditioning and on-field chemistry.
Hopefully, we'll get them next time."
The Owls return to Texas
Women's Lacrosse League action
this Saturday at home at 10 a.m.
against league leader Texas A&M
University. The Owls can only af-
ford one more loss if they hope to
make the playoffs. The remainder of
their schedule includes games
againstTrinity University and South-
west Texas State University, two
teams Rice easily defeated in a tour-
nament earlier in the spring, as well
as Texas Tech University.
Even with a loss against A&M,
the Owls have a good shot at making
the playoffs. A win over the Aggies,
however, would take a lot of the
pressure off and represent a huge
step for Rice's program.
"A&M is ranked first in the
league, so chances are that will be a
loss," Huang said. "But it'll definitely
be good practice to get us ready for
the other games. We just have to
keep practicing hard, and we can't
consider those other games certain
wins until we actually do win."
1
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, March 23, 2001, newspaper, March 23, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443094/m1/26/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.