Feb. 22, 2003

Long Beach, Calif. - The No. 5-ranked Cal women's water polo team lost the first of back-to back matches against Top 10 teams, as the Bears fell to No. 4 Long Beach State, 8-5, this afternoon, Feb. 22 at the Campus Pool in Long Beach. The Golden Bears fall to 3-3 on the year and will face No. 6 Loyola Marymount at noon on Sunday.

Both squads' top guns showed their stuff this afternoon as Cal leading scorer Jodie Needles and Long Beach State MPSF Player of the Week Roberta Stewart each tallied a hat trick for their respective teams. The difference was The Beach received multiple goal performances from two other players while the Bears' offensive output was not there.

The first half of action saw a ton of scoring as the teams combined for 10 goals. Long Beach State jumped on the board first at the 5:05 mark of the first period, taking the early 1-0 lead. Cal's Needles, though, quickly tied it up two minutes later as the sophomore found the back of the net for her first of three goals on the afternoon. The Beach's Stewart and Alison Braden tallied back-to-to back scores before Cal freshman Allison Gold collected her second goal of the season with 34 ticks left on the clock. Long Beach State held a slim 3-2 margin heading into the second stanza.

The Bears were outscored 4-1 in the second period and The Beach went into the break with a commanding 7-3 lead. The Beach's Stewart tallied consecutive scores in the first 1:30 before Needles punched in one of her own at the 5:19 mark. Braden and Angelica Garcia each chipped in a goal for Long Beach State in the period's waning minutes.

The Bears put on a defensive clinic in the second half, holding The Beach to only one score, but could only scratch the scoreboard twice themselves. Needles tacked on her third goal and freshman Lauren McGee chipped in a last-second goal with :08 to play. Beach goalie Bri Hawkins recorded five saves, including a penalty-shot save in the first period. Cal netminder Lauren Dennis collected three saves in the losing effort.

The Bears stay in Southern California for their next match tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 23, against No. 6 Loyola Marymount at noon in Los Angeles.

BOX SCORE:

	     1-2-3-4--T
Cal (3-3)    2-1-1-1--5
LBS (7-1)    3-4-0-1--8

California Scoring: Jodie Needles 3, Lauren McGee, Allison Gold
LBS Scoring: Roberta Stewart 3, Alison Braden 2, Drue Wawrzynski 2, Angelica Garcia
Goalie Saves: Lauren Dennis (Cal) 3; Bri Hawkins (LBS) 7.
6-on-5: Cal 2-7; LBS 5-9.