Irvine, CA — The Eagles of CUI WLAX opened the 2019 season at home field on Saturday, February 9 against the Tritons of UCSD. CUI was outmatched 19-9 in a game of extremes. On one hand, fast runs by UCSD peppered the scoreboard with Triton goals. On the other, CUI made brick wall stands on defense, highlighted by sophomore Goalie Yessenia Alvarez's 21 saves. In the first half, UCSD scored 15 goals. In the second, CUI held them to 4. "Coach Fia and I celebrate specific victories in this loss," says Head Coach Michelle Mendoza, "First, we made a huge defensive adjustment against a more experienced team exactly when it was needed. Second, I emphasized pre-game that no matter the score, we should come away proud of our performance. That was the outcome I wanted firsthand. I believe we got it." The Tritons placed second in the WWLL Division 2 South Conference standings in 2018. Confronting this team with 14 athletes who had never played a formal game of lacrosse before was exactly the challenge the Eagles needed to assess their own team. The Eagles unfortunately came short in draw possession often. Within five minutes after opening whistle, UCSD controlled the draw twice and scored the two first goals of the game. Here was when it was clear that CUI would rely on defense to be on alert for a quick-scoring opponent. Junior captain and midfielder, Amanda Morgan (#9), put CUI on the board soon after with a free position goal, spurring a run of two more Eagle points. Junior midfielder Celine Rios (#17) scored off a free position and an unassisted goal back-to-back. At this point, CUI held a lead of 2-3. Along the midfield draw takers, junior returner Mitxi Herrera Martinez (#5) and junior newbie Tamia Shoshone (#23), Rios made a standout performance off the circle. She secured both draw controls that CUI earned in the first half. With just under 20 minutes left in the first half, UCSD had scored another two goals. The ball was played mostly in our defensive third. Despite six saves made by Yessenia Alvarez and multiple attempted clears at this point, the Eagles getting beat at 50/50 balls off the draw or on the ground gave UCSD the offensive advantage. Coach Mendoza called for a time out at 18:04 with the score at 4-3 to corral and light up the defense. "Our time out was meant to shift defense's performance into more of a team effort. After suffering from individual-oriented defense lacking the team support we needed, we were bound to be scored on too easily," says Coach Mendoza. UCSD scored the next goal coming out of the time out, but Rios answered back seconds later with another free position goal. The Tritons replied with yet another two goals, but the back-and-forth was proving that defense and midfield were getting the ball into Eagle offense more than it was before the time out. On one offensive possession, senior captain and attacker Sam Leyesa (#3) scored off the eight-meter to bring the score to 9-5. With CUI aching to capitalize on any offensive possession they could get and UCSD hoarding the ball into their offensive third for the majority of the time, the Eagle defense took center stage. Directly after Leyesa's goal, defense made a four-minute stand against the Tritons including three goalie saves in a row. UCSD soon scored again with 8:41 left on the clock. And they would score five more in the remainder of the half. But the last nine minutes of defensive effort included two more saves by Alvarez, three Eagle-won ground balls, and two caused turnovers by Morgan and junior captain and defender, Heather Hersh (#4). At halftime, the score was 15-5. To begin the second half, it could have been expected of UCSD to stall the ball. However, the Tritons did not halt their relent on offense. The Tritons scored to open half at 25:11, but only after CUI placed another 5-minute defensive staunch on them after draw control. One attempted clear unsuccessfully gave UCSD their chance to score, but defense had clearly come out fighting in the second half. With the score at 16-5, defense showed a clear decision to give their all in preventing more Triton runs. In the next five minutes, defense riddled UCSD with two saves, two ground balls, two caused turnovers, an attempted clear, and finally, a successful clear to deliver the ball into Eagle hands. Rios subsequently assisted Leyesa for a beautiful goal at 19:02. Leyesa then scored the next one unassisted after CUI won the draw. The score here was 16-7. Momentum seemed to swing in CUI's favor at this point, but UCSD followed through with three more goals in a row soon after. Draw control was a challenge for the Eagles, as UCSD won all of them during this time. However, UCSD's last goal was scored with fifteen minutes left in the game. For the tail end of game, CUI came out in dominant fashion on both defense and offense. The last three draws of game were won by Eagles. On defense, sophomore defender and newcomer, Ashlin Morey (#6), secured two ground balls, both delivered into successful clears. Rios and Leyesa took three shots total before Leyesa could score on a free position shot at 5:03. After UCSD won the next draw, Hersh caused a turnover and won a ground ball to bring the last possession of game on CUI's side. Rios scored her fourth goal at 1:46 to bring the score to 19-9 and the game ended shortly after that. The Eagles bounce back for their game at the Santa Barbara Polo Club against Air Force on Friday, February 15 to open the Santa Barbara Shootout. Individual Statistics ***Please note that these may not be 100% accurate, but have been done to the best of our ability.*** #15 Yessenia Alvarez Saves: 21 Goals allowed: 19 #17 Celine Rios Goals: 4 Assists: 2 Points: 6 Free Position Shots: 3 Shots: 3 Draw Controls: 2 Caused Turnovers: 1 Turnovers: 2 #9 Amanda Morgan Goals: 1 Points: 1 Free Position Shots: 1 Draw Controls: Ground Balls: 3 Caused Turnovers: 1 Turnovers: 2 #3 Sam Leyesa Goals: 4 Points: 4 Free Position Shots: 3 Shots: 1 Draw Controls: 1 Ground Balls: 1 Caused Turnovers: 1 Turnovers: 1 #6 Ashlin Morey Turnovers: 2 Ground Balls: 2 #4 Heather Hersh Ground Balls: 2 Caused Turnovers: 4 #23 Tamia Shoshone Caused Turnovers: 1 Ground Balls: 1 Turnovers: 2 #5 Mitxi Herrera Martinez Caused Turnovers: 1