Oct. 15, 2000

BERKELEY - California is the NorPac Conference champions for the second year in a row as the Bears pummeled Saint Louis, 4-0, Sunday afternoon.

Senior Leslie Katch started and sustained the scoring for the Bears in the first half as she tipped in a Stephanie Lyons shot off a penalty corner to score the go-ahead goal at 28:00 of the first.

Call it de j? vu, or call it luck, but Katch gave an encore performance of her previous goal by tipping another shot on goal from Lyons with 11:01 left in the opening period.

The two goals were Katch's first and second of the season as the senior has had four assist thus far, but hasn't been able to place the ball in the net until today.

"I'm the left post and it's (tip in) something that we've been working on a lot," said Katch. "Keeping my stickface open and my eyes open."

The Billikens had a chance in the waning minutes of the first half. Saint Louis managed to get a shot on net but the play was called back with no time remaining because of an infraction.

The second half saw the reemergence of Nora Feddersen who has been hampered by bronchitis the past three games.

Sophomore forward, Alyson Furer took the initial shot that bounced off of a defender. Pooja Mehta then chipped a shot from the baseline, which went off Saint Louis keeper Erin Linehan, but Feddersen corralled the ball and put it home at 18:37.

The Bears came out of the gates in the second half showing the killer instinct that has not always been there this season. The question was whether Cal could maintain the intensity throughout the entire game.

"I thought they were kind of settling (towards the end of the game)," said coach Shellie Onstead. "And I called a timeout and said, 'don't end this complacent, let's end it how we know how to play it.' I just wanted to make sure they weren't getting into a lull."

Feddersen, Mehta and junior Amber Stockstill, all stood out during the game as they drove the ball into the Billikens' zone with dexterity and aggressiveness.

The backfield once again proved to be solid as Erin Robinson,Alyssa Sprenger and Leticia Galyean made some nice stops. Galyean may have saved a goal when she deflected a penalty corner shot in the first half.

"I think the individual work and the work they've been doing so far, its showing on the field," Onstead said. "Pooja did a nice job even though she didn't get a lot of minutes."

Saint Louis appeared under-manned as Cal was attacking most of the game while the Billikens looked tentative. The final goal of the day for the Bears came from an unlikely source as Ashley McNoughton assisted on an Erin Booth goal with 6:06 left to go in the game. It was the freshman's first goal of her college career.

Cal has one game remaining on the conference slate, and with four wins, it is assured of conference supremacy because all other NorPac Conference teams have at least one loss.

The second best team in the conference, SW Missouri St., already suffered a loss to the Bears while Stanford, the third place team has lost two conference games thus far this season.

Coach Onstead is somewhat in disbelief that her team has been so successful. "To be honest, I didn't really expect to win the league, but I figured we'd make our biggest statement in the tournament and I still intend to do that, but it's a nice perk (first seed in the tournament), nice little bonus."

Cal looks to win its first game against an Ivy League opponent as the Bears get right back into the mix, hosting Pennsylvania, Monday, Oct. 16, at 1 p.m.

Field Hockey Result
Kleeberger Field, Berkeley, CA
Saint Louis	  0  0   - 0
California	  2  2   - 4

Scoring:
First Half
C - Leslie Katch 28:00 (Lyons)
C - Leslie Katch 11:01 (Lyons)
Second Half
C - Nora Feddersen 18:37
C - Erin Booth 6:06

Shots:	California        18
        Saint Louis       7

Records: California	7-4 (4-0)
         Saint Louis	4-9 (1-3)