Published 2003-03-26T00:00:00Z”/>

Chris Cullen<br>Staff Writer

By winning two of three games on a spring-break swing through Texas, Chico State men’s lacrosse continued to improve on the best season in the program’s history.

Chico played three Texas schools, two of which are ranked in the top 10 in the country. The ‘Cats defeated No. 10 ranked University of Texas 10-6 and unranked Baylor 12-5, but lost in the week’s third game to No. 7 Texas A&M, 12-9.

“We held our own,” said head coach Steve Dini. “Coming into those games, we were a little scared. But when you beat a team like Texas, it says a lot.”

The team is off to its best season ever after victories against top ranked teams UC Berkeley, Stanford and now Texas. For the first time in men’s lacrosse history Chico is ranked No. 11 in the country.

“We’ve proven we are a contender,” Dini said. “We can go out there and give anyone a good game.”

However, it wasn’t all fun and games as Chico played its third game against Texas A&M, a school with a military background, the night American forces invaded Iraq.

“Texas A&M, being a former military school, made it different,” Dini said. “They’re really patriotic, but in a good way.”

The team came back to Chico Thursday, the day after war broke out. Players said airport security was extremely tough and their flight was postponed several hours.

“It was nerve-racking because we were flying,” said junior Mike Weber. “We were supposed to leave early but we didn’t leave until the afternoon.”

The team also had to give up half its spring break to compete in Texas. Most players were not disappointed but they did realize the difference.

“It was more of a business trip than spring break,” said Jason Ragno, one of the team’s captains. “Traveling wasn’t so great, but we were there to play lacrosse.”

In Chico’s first game of the trip on March 17, Dan Yob led the team with five goals while goalie Blake Wahrlich saved 15 of 21 attempts as the team beat Texas 10-6. Whit Poor chipped in three goals and had one assist.

In the second game on March 18, offensive powerhouses Tyson Poor and Yob led Chico to a 12-5 win over Baylor. Poor had a well-rounded game, with two goals and five assists, while Yob contributed three goals and one assist. Goalie Travis Hayes saved 12 of 17 attempts.

“The trip does nothing for our league playoff hopes,” Dini said. “It helps us

prepare for run-and-gun teams we will face in the league tournament, and it helps us get an at-large bid into the National Tournament.”

In the third game, Chico started with 2-1 run but then the Texas Aggies scored 10 unanswered goals and led 11-2 after two quarters. The Wildcats put together a third-quarter comeback, outscoring the Aggies 4-0, making the score 11-6. Chico continued to fight back in the fourth, outscoring Texas 3-1, but in the end they fell 12-9. Whit Poor led Chico with five goals while his brother Tyson Poor chipped in two more. Yob also scored one goal and had two assists.

“We showed we can compete with the best in our last game against Texas A&M,” Ragno said. “They destroyed us in the first half, but in the second we outscored them 7-1 and almost beat them.”

Even though Chico State is a Division II school in NCAA sanctioned sports, they compete on the Division I club level where recruiting is often easier for bigger schools.

“It’s more difficult to compete because of the number of students at those schools,” Dini said. “There are more students to draw from. There are more resources and they get much more funding. They have certain abilities we don’t. But Chico is a desirable place and we get good athletes.”

Chico improved its record to 9-2 with three games remaining. Dini believes Chico is a shoe-in to go to Regionals, but they must finish strong to get a bid into the national championships. Sixteen teams get into the national champion-ships. There are nine reserved spots and seven at large bids.

“If we win our next three games we will be the number two seed in Regionals,” Dini said. “I don’t see us going 0-3, I see us going 3-0.”

Chico will play University of Nevada, Reno, UC Davis, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in its final three games.<em>Chris Cullen can be reached at <a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a></em>