This was supposed to be a tune-up game for UC Santa Cruz in preparation for its Western Collegiate Lacrosse League division two championship game, but the Vikings had other ideas.

“We knew the odds were against us, and all we could do was to play our best,” said attacker Chris Morrissey. “We didn’t have practice during spring break so I think we all felt a little rusty most of the week.

“Thankfully we pulled it together for Friday night, played with our hearts and our heads, and came out with a victory.”

DVC’s Marshall Bowden scored his fifth goal of the game with 2:51 remaining to break the tie and give the Vikings the 11-10 win.

“It feels great, because it’s the last game of the season,” Bowden said. “We played them in the fall, and they just ran all over us.”

“It feels great just to get that revenge.”

The usually high-scoring Viking offense was slowed a bit. But behind stellar goaltending by Colin Timms, it hardly mattered.

Timms came up huge in the fourth quarter, holding Santa Cruz to two goals and knocking away a shot with 1.7 seconds left to seal the victory.

“We were giving up possession way too much,” Bowden said. “We kept pushing passes we didn’t need to, and they kept holding the ball in their end.”

DVC avenged its earlier loss to Santa Cruz in an exhibition game in which the Vikings were blown out by the Banana Slugs.

“Back in the fall when they beat us, we really didn’t know who was going to show up for the game,” Morrissey said. “So it was hard to set up our offense and defense ahead of time.”

The Vikings played most of the third quarter without Morrissey, their leading scorer for the season, went down with a knee injury with 9:20 remaining.

After receiving treatment on the sidelines Morrissey reentered the game with 9:37 remaining in the fourth with a bone bruise on his knee. He finished the game with just two goals.

During his absence in the lineup, DVC only mustered a single goal by Bowden.

Santa Cruz played undisciplined lacrosse all game, amassing numerous slashing penalties that forced the Banana Slugs to play a man down and in many cases two men down.

The Vikings surprised the overconfident WCLL division two, regular-season champions and jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and scored five of the first six goals of the game to lead 5-1.

After back-and-forth scoring throughout the next three quarters, Santa Cruz looked to have all the momentum, scoring the only two goals in the fourth to tie the game before Bowden’s game winner.

With the win DVC improved its record to 4-1 in its inaugural season and finished the year on a high note, upsetting the No. 1 team in the WCLL division two and the No. 20-ranked team in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association division two.

“A good team has skill, but a great team has chemistry,” Morrissey said “It really shows through by the friendships that I have personally made with my teammates.

“It’s nice to have a team that you can click with on and off the field.”