The UCSB men’s lacrosse team will travel down to San Diego this Saturday to face San Diego State University for their second-to-last game of the regular season. The game will be at Westview high school in San Diego at 2 p.m.

Last weekend’s win against Loyola Marymount brought the Gauchos’ record to an impressive 3-0 in the SLC North division and 10-1 overall.

“I think we’ve played with good discipline throughout the season, and we’ve been able to find ways to win in different ways. I think we’ve been solid in every facet of the game such as clears, face-offs, ground balls, and shooting. All of those little things add up to a successful season,” Head Coach Mike Allan said.

UCSB players to watch for include senior attack Jamie Bridgman, whose 22 goals leads the team, and assist leader Kevin Bowles. Junior defenseman Kenny Smith had a great game against LMU and will look to continue his defensive prowess this weekend.

“Kenny Smith shut off their best player who is averaging around six goals per game. I think that was the key to the win was limiting the number of touches from their best player and making their offensive scheme fall apart,” senior midfielder and team captain Taylor Gilbert said.

The Aztecs are currently 0-3 in their division and 4-8 overall. Their top players include sophomore attack Drew Brooker, who leads the team in goals with 11, and fellow sophomore attack Aaron Morgante.

After this Saturday’s game in San Diego, the Gauchos will host SLC North Division opponent and long-time rival Chapman on April 21 for Senior Day. The Panthers are right behind UCSB in the SLC North Division standings at 2-0 in conference and 12-3 overall.

“They are doing well this season and they have been a rival for the past eight years in a major way. They have been talking smack via Twitter to us this season and we are pretty excited to let them come to our house and make them eat their words,” Gilbert said.

After the Chapman game, UCSB will find out who they will be playing in the first round of the playoffs that begin April 28.

“As we move into the playoffs, we’re going to need to be more consistent with our execution throughout our games. We’ve had some lulls, and we can’t afford to play that way in big games,” Allan said.

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