The Western Collegiate Lacrosse League has proven to be a difficult challenge for the UCLA club team all season.
With no division wins and only three victories all season, the Bruins knew they could not afford to lose on Friday at the North Athletic Field.
Fortunately for UCLA (3-11), the Bruins won their last home game of the season 8-7 after a close game against UCSC (5-1) that consisted of back-and-forth scoring.
UCLA entered the fourth quarter down by one goal and later scored three goals to seal the victory.
A critical point in the game occurred two minutes into the fourth quarter when senior Patrick Watkins scored the equalizer that tied the game 6-6.
Only 12 seconds after the faceoff, sophomore Victor Poon scored to break the tie.
The Bruins would never look back.
Despite pulling his groin during the last practice, senior Jon Yip still managed to score two goals in the last home game of his college career.
“It was good,” Yip said. “It makes me really proud that we got our win.”
Senior Garrett Peterson was also a key player for the Bruins with two goals and one assist. Even though the Bruins still earned the win, Peterson gave the Banana Slugs a lot of credit for their defensive efforts.
“I’m happy I got to perform in my last home game,” Peterson said. “They played tough defense. They were both tough and smart.”
The Banana Slugs came close to scoring in the second half when an attacker fought his way past the Bruin defenders and delivered a shot that bounced of the right post.
With 1 minute and 47 seconds remaining, UCSC scored its last goal of the game.
The last minute of the game was a crucial one for both teams. UCLA was only up by one goal and wanted to maintain its lead to get the victory.
UCSC refused to fall back and instead strengthened its offense hoping to score a goal that never came.
Although UCSC was close to equalizing the score, coach Jacques Bagley remained confident his team would not surrender.
“UCSC played really well, but I was still confident in our team,” Bagley said. “We played really solid during the second half. I have to give Santa Cruz a lot of credit for playing good defense,” he added.
Although the Bruins had a strong finish, they suffered a few injuries. Among them was junior Scott Harris, who sprained his ankle in the first minute of the game.
Coach Bagley believes the team needs to rest and recover from the injuries to prepare for a big matchup with USC this Saturday.
“We need good practices this week,” Bagley said. “A lot of our guys were injured, and we need to recover.”
The Bruins and Trojans have struggled mightily this year, but there is still a lot riding on Saturday’s game: The loser will finish the year in last place.