As a sophomore on the lacrosse team, Sarah Urbanic has broken multiple records and received regional and national recognition for her efforts.
Urbanic was named the Division II National Offensive Player of the Week by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coach Association. Urbanic is the first lacrosse player from UCCS to receive this honor in program history.
Before this, Urbanic was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week in women’s lacrosse. On April 4, she broke the record for most goals in a game in UCCS history with 9. Three days later, Urbanic obtained her second RMAC Offensive Player of the Week title.
When the recognition went national, Urbanic was enthused. “It feels really good. I feel really lucky, especially with the National Player of the Week. There are so many talented players, and there are so many schools to choose from,” she said.
Urbanic emphasized the importance of the award not only for herself, but for the Mountain Lions. “I’m really glad I was chosen, because not only is it great for my personal ego, but for our program. It’s nice being able to represent our program in that way and show that we have a lot of talent here,” said Urbanic.
Urbanic played varsity lacrosse and field hockey every year of high school. After watching her sister play Division I lacrosse at UC Davis, she decided she would play at the collegiate level, too.
She wanted to go DI and play with her sister, but after seeing what it was like to play at that division level, her mind changed. “I watched my sister go through it, and I realized that being a DII athlete could give me more of an opportunity to be a person outside of my sport.”
This thought process brought Urbanic to UCCS. “I love skiing. I love the mountains, and it’s pretty affordable coming out of state from California,” she said.
Her freshman year, Urbanic had a total of 25 goals and 4 assists. She also obtained the RMAC Freshman Player of the Year title. This season, Urbanic has racked up 53 goals and 18 assists so far with two weeks still left in the RMAC season.
Rituals help Urbanic before and during games. “On my left hand, I draw a goldfish, inspired by the Ted Lasso show quote that tells you to be a goldfish and forget about your mistakes. On my other wrist, I write a goal word which will be like ‘assists’ or ‘confidence,’ or whatever I’m working on that game.”
Urbanic is confident the rest of the season will turn out well. “I’m really happy and excited with how our team is playing. Our coach has said multiple times that we haven’t played our best game yet, so, blowing out teams like we have, it’s good to know that we can still do better.”
Urbanic is a criminal justice major. She’s not fully sure what she will do with her degree, but she’s interested in homeland security and intelligence.
For their final regular season game, the Mountain Lions will play at home against Regis on April 18 at 4 p.m. The team has clinched their spot in the RMAC tournament and will play in the semifinals on April 25.
Students get free admittance to all regular season games at UCCS. The game on April 18 and the semifinal tournament game can be watched on RMAC Network.
Attacker #15 Sarah Urbanic during a game on April 6. Photo by Lillian Davis.