Men’s Lacrosse Looks Back and Ahead

(UCSC's City on a Hill Press article by Alejandro Trejo)

 

The UC Santa Cruz Men’s Lacrosse season came to a definitive end on Sunday, as the Banana Slugs endured a 9 to 5 loss at the hands of conference rivals Saint Mary’s college.

 

The team was ranked 16th in the nation going into Sunday’s conference championship and held a strong record, with 10 wins and 5 losses. They had also previously defeated Saint Mary’s during the regular season.

 

Team president and senior mid-fielder Mark Del Prete called the game a tough defeat, considering that this is the Slugs’ first loss to Saint Mary’s in three seasons.

 

“It was a pretty huge loss for us, but Saint Mary’s is definitely getting better, along with most of our league,” Del Prete said. “I think it could honestly go back and forth between the two of us for number one, but on Sunday they just wanted it more than us.”

 

Samir Chaudry, a third-year film and digital media major and next year’s team president, said that the team’s overconfidence attributed to their loss.

 

“We got out-played and out-prepared, but it was a big learning experience for us,” Chaudry said. “These teams are going to start to get better and better, and we’re just going to have to work harder if we want to win the championship.”

 

Looking back on the season, Del Prete said he was proud of the team and the way they met some new challenges, such as the search for a new head coach and the push to gain national recognition.

 

“We had to hire a new coach and really start fresh with the program, new guidelines, new uniforms and new gear,” Del Prete said. “This is also the first year where we traveled so much, because we really wanted to go out and show that we weren’t afraid to play anyone. We played ranked opponents from Southern California, Oregon and Utah.”

 

Head Coach John McCreery coached at Ole Miss for two years prior to coming to Santa Cruz. He and his players all considered the loss to Saint Mary’s their low point of the season. He was, however, still happy with his team’s results throughout the season.

 

“Getting 10 wins, being nationally ranked, being invited to national tournaments — we did accomplish a lot this season. [It’s] the most UCSC has ever accomplished in its past,” McCreery said.

 

Chaudry said he has seen the program’s focus change to a more professional and serious tone since McCreery’s arrival.

 

“Last year the team was more of a club program, but this year we’ve tried to model ourselves after more varsity collegiate programs,” Chaudry said. “The program is now organized in such a way that it mirrors a lot of the same concepts and organization of varsity programs, which has brought a new level of seriousness to the team.”

 

One of the most drastic changes that occurred was the outreach to the community through its Role Models program. During this season, the team donated their helmets to Watsonville High School, which was able to expand its Junior Varsity program because of the Banana Slugs.

 

“The team is very positive, and cares about the sport of lacrosse and helping the community,” McCreery said. “Considering that we are the only college program in the county, we should be the leader for the lacrosse community in a positive way.”

 

The Role Models program also allows the opportunity to recruit within the community, as well as helping to support lacrosse within the Santa Cruz, Central Coast and Bay Area.

 

“We’ve donated our helmets, we’ve helped out at clinics that are set up by our coaches, and we also have two players on our team who are coaching high school teams,” team president Del Prete said. “We want to represent Santa Cruz in a good way, and help recruit local players and help build up our program.”

 

Del Prete expects to see the program continue its success into the next season, thanks largely to the recruitment of new players and the stability of the coaching staff.

 

“I see no reason why this program cannot grow exponentially in the next few seasons, and continue to dominate and compete within the conference.”

 

http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2010/05/06/mens-lacrosse-looks-back-and-ahead/

 

Slugs Becoming Role Models (March 24th, 2010)

When UC Santa Cruz head coach John McCreery decided to take the reigns of the UCSC program in August 2009, he wanted the Banana Slugs to lead the way in developing lacrosse in the greater Monterey Bay, Calif. area. He has his Slugs working in the community to develop young lacrosse players and establish strong high school programs. UCSC attackman and head coach of Pacific Collegiate School (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Samir Chaudry, along with UCSC redshirt midfielder Will Jaffe, has already established a strong program at PCS. UC Santa Cruz assistant coach Henry Fitzpatrick coaches at Aptos High School (Aptos, Calif.) and McCreery coaches at Carmel High School (Carmel, Calif.). The UC Santa Cruz men’s lacrosse program reaches both Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties with the intent of building a strong lacrosse community in the Monterey Bay area.

 

UCSC Lacrosse Donates Helmets to Watsonville High School

 

Watsonville High School (Watsonville, Calif.) was able to add 20 players to its roster and expand its junior varsity program due in large part to the generous donation of 20 lacrosse helmets from the UCSC men’s lacrosse team and its coach, John McCreery.

 

WHS is beginning only its fourth season as a program in a predominately low socioeconomic Hispanic community. The Wildcatz had a breakout season last year, going 19-4 and sending two coaches and 13 players to represent Mexico in a summer tournament at Lake Tahoe. Team Mexico went 3-1 and lost 9-8 in the tournament’s championship game.

 

UCSC and WHS have built a strong relationship over the last two years. Watsonville hosted UCSC’s 2009 games against Cal Poly SLO and St. Mary’s. Watsonville’s Geiser Field also saw coach McCreery host a lacrosse clinic that helped teach area athletes the skills and fundamentals of the game. The UCSC roster also boasts one WHS alum, Eric Maciel.

 

WHS plays in the prestigious Mission Trails Athletic League (MTAL) and is currently ranked as one of the top teams on California’s central coast. The Wildcatz hope to advance to the league championship for a rematch of last year’s title game against perennial powerhouse Robert Louis Stevenson (Pebble Beach, Calif.).

 

http://www.collegelax.us/news/2010/03/24/slugs-becoming-role-models-under-mccreery/

 

Davis Recap

Playing each other for the first time after several years both teams showed a great performance. It was a close under the lights game on a Saturday night at UC Davis. Davis won by 1 with their last score being made in the last quarter with 00:02 seconds remaining.

 

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
UC Santa Cruz 1 2 1 2 6
UC Davis 2 0 3 2 7

 

Recent Press Release

Santa Cruz, CA (8/7/09) – Ever since stepping off the airplane in Dallas, Texas two years ago the UC Santa Cruz men’s lacrosse team has been hungry to once again return to the Division II club national spotlight.   The 2009 season ended abruptly for the Banana Slugs as their Division II conference championship wasn’t quite enough to get them back to the MCLA tournament.  Having only 4 teams in the division did not allow them to receive an automatic qualifier and their difficulty of schedule was well short of the quality of schedule needed to receive a bid.

 

The Slugs hope that 2010 is a different season.  They plan to put all the pieces of the puzzle together by scheduling games against quality Division II teams that are out of their WCLL division as well as finding a new coach to lead the team.  Santa Cruz returns many players from last year including four seniors and nine juniors.  The team will return all-conference attackman Lucas Murillo for his final season with the Slugs as well as all-conference face off middie Marc Del Prete.  Among the juniors coming back are all-conference team attackman David Buros, all-conference defender Chris Carlson, and all-conference team midfielder Will Jaffe (WCLL Division 2 Offensive Player of the Year).

The team is eager to return to the field after the summer to begin training for fall ball as well as the 2010 spring season ahead.  The season is sure to be full of exciting out of conference games with solid Division II schools as well as some great Division I match-ups.  The division rivals, Saint Mary’s, will pose a challenge for the Banana Slugs as they are thirsty for revenge after losing in the WCLL Division II championship game 11-10 last May.

This summer was a busy one for many of the Slug Lacrosse players as they transitioned from last season, having to deal with gear order, scheduling, and finding a new head coach.  John McCreery was recently named the new head coach for UC Santa Cruz.  Coach McCreery comes to Santa Cruz after stepping down from the head coaching position at Ole Miss.

 

The Banana Slugs are excited to get the chance to work with their  new Coach McCreery.  His positive outlook and enthusiasm impressed the coaching hiring committee, specifically his “Team Dynamics” coaching philosophy.  McCreery has built lacrosse programs from Palos Verdes to Ole Miss, and now he will attempt to build a strong program in Santa Cruz.

The UC Santa Cruz men’s lacrosse team is ready again for a successful season and plans on defending their WCLL title as well as earning the chance to play at the MCLA national tournament again.

 

http://www.collegelax.us/news/2009/08/07/banana-slugs-lacrosse-decide-on-new-coach/