No. 8 Amanda Schweitzer scored six tries last weekend. / Photos: Richard Thunen
UC Santa Barbara has distinguished itself early in the DI Gold Coast season, opening with back-to-back wins against UCLA and UC San Diego. Zac Winter is the new head coach and brings 10 years of experience leading high school, college and club teams. When he arrived in September 2017, the program was in good shape in terms of a player pool, but the team itself needed to regroup.
RELATED: DI College Spring Ranking • Women’s Rugby Results: Jan. 25-28 • Support TRB: $5 Makes a Difference!
Previous head coach Fred Waititi and UCSB men’s head coach Tim Lewis, who also worked with the women’s team, did a good job of developing new players and setting up a well run program.
“I was lucky,” Winter said of his arrival. “And there was good leadership from the veteran players as well. But there was a bit of discord in the team. Something had happened in the previous season, where not everyone felt they had a voice or a say in the decisions that were being made.
“When I came in, I wanted there to be a theme for the team, and it was the players who decided on ‘unity,’” Winter said. “We’ve tried to carry that through from the very first practice. We huddle after every training session and everyone can have their say. … So far, it’s worked.”
The players committed themselves to the team, training twice per week, lifting twice per week, and taking advantage of additional individual skills sessions. The fall was light in terms of fixtures, with just the Long Beach State tournament (3-1) and an 80-minute friendly against UCLA in October to occupy the rest of 2017. And then after the winter break, UCSB traveled to Davis, Calif., to take on the two-time reigning DI spring champion.
“We knew Davis was a good team, and that helped raise our game,” Winter said. “The women were very excited to play that game and it really showed on the field. We surprised ourselves how well we played because we hadn’t had a match since October, and we didn’t know what it was going to look like. The fact that we got the win built a lot of momentum going into the season.”
On Saturday’s season-opener, UCSB lined up against UCLA, which had lost 19-27 to Arizona (1-1) the weekend prior. First-half tries from No. 8 Amanda Schweitzer (2), lock/flanker Naomi Carrillo and inside center Lauren Thunen, who also kicked the conversions, gave UCSB a 24-0 lead. Thunen and Schweitzer scored after the break to lead 36-0 until minute 65. The Bruins did well to press late, sending Deidre Scott, Victoria Chan and Norma Marin across for tries. But a fourth score from Schweitzer put the 41-15 win into the books.
“Our scrums were dominant. And the players had a lot of passion diving on loose balls,” Winter pointed to difference-makers in the match. “And our defense – we have been emphasizing team defense and making tackles.
Defensive standout Naomi Carrillo
“Naomi Carrillo, she’s new to rugby, just started in December. She is totally a tackling machine,” Winter said of defense-defining players. “And I have to mention Lauren Thunen. She defends really well in the centers, too.”
With recovery the main priority post-match Saturday, UCSB only had to make one lineup change for Sunday’s game against UC San Diego.
“The team was really looking forward to this game – especially the vets,” Winter said. “The last few years, they’d been blown out by UCSD.”
UCSB got up early, but not as rapidly as Saturday. Schweitzer and Thunen scored tries, and Thunen’s conversion gave their side a 12-0 lead that held until minute 30. UCSD fullback Samantha Killfoil scored to draw in the point differential, but the Titans did not add another point for the rest of the match. Santa Barbara fullback Haley Pedersen, Schweitzer, outside center Vivian Badillo Velasco, Thunen and reserve Arleny Ayon scored for the 37-5 win.
UCSB inside center and kicker Lauren Thunen
Winter once again pointed to Schweitzer, who finished the weekend with six tries, and Thunen for their carrying abilities, and Carrillo for her work rate on defense.
“What really surprised me were our lineouts. We had been struggling with our lineouts but we won all of them,” the coach praised. “We had lost our thrower – the one lineup change we had to make from Saturday – and our fullback, Haley Pedersen, filled in and did an excellent job throwing. That really helped with our set pieces.”
UCSB will look to extend its winning streak this Saturday, when the team takes on 1-0 CSU Northridge, which defeated Arizona 45-34 last weekend. It’s a six-game regular season with conference playoffs that follow.
“We are definitely trying to win one game at a time,” Winter said. “We set team goals in the pre-season and we want to make it to the [spring*] playoffs, which means we need to win our conference playoffs. The team knows the job isn’t done and there’s lots of work to do.”
Also occurring in week three of the DI Gold Coast, UC San Diego play UCLA, and Arizona head to Grand Canyon.
* Remember that the Division I colleges currently competing in their respective 15s seasons are building toward the USA Rugby DI College Spring Championship. The only USA Rugby 15s national championship (i.e., not NIRA or NSCRO) that exists for women’s colleges is DI Elite. That said, a DI spring college could advance to the DI Elite national championship since the playoff structure combines both divisions into the same Spring Round of 16.