March 20, 2003

Berkeley, Calif. - The California women's lacrosse team (6-1, 2-0, MPLL) rallied from three goals down at halftime to claim its sixth game in a row, this time in a 14-10 victory over the Colgate Raiders at Memorial Stadium Thursday, March 20. The Bears six-in-a-row win streak is the program's longest such stretch since taking seven straight in 2001 (3/6 - 3/28).

In what is becoming a familiar scene, Cal fell behind 1-0 early as Colgate midfielder Kim Corcoran found the back of the net just 29 seconds into the match. But just like the Bears' last game vs. Saint Mary's, the team responded with junior midfielder Carley Preble knotting the score at 1-1 off a nice assist from Julianne Wu at the 2:47 mark. Neither squad looked especially proficient in the settle offense as the teams spent the next 10 minutes trading offensive posessions in midfield. Cal did not help its cause, getting flagged for two first half yellow cards in what was one of the more physical halves of the year. Colgate freshman midfielder Kelly Winning ended the scoring drought with her first of four goals on the afternoon before fellow freshman Katie McVeigh followed that up with a goal to give the Raiders the 3-1 lead with 15:51 to play in the opening stanza.

Junior attacker Emily Edwards responded to the back-to-back Colgate scores by doing what she does best - scoring goals. The Des Moines, Iowa product tallied her first of a team-high five goals on a free position score, inching the Bears back within one goal with 10:00 to play. Colgate's Winning and Edwards traded scores in the next 2:13 before the Raiders tallied two straight to end the half with the 6-4 advantage.

The last time that Cal went into the break on the losing end of the scoreboard, the Bears lost to Saint Mary's, 7-5, in the first game of the season. That was then and this is now. The Bears responded to open the second half with four unanswered goals to take the 8-6 lead and gain the all-important momentum. In the offensive explosion, Wu tallied her first of four second half goals while sophomore midfielder Molly Brady netted two and Colleen O'Mara one of her own. The rally did not intimate the Raiders, though, as Winning and Corcoran tallied back-to-back scores to knot the game at 8-8 in what became the second tie of the game ... this time with 9:25 left to play.

Senior goalkeeper Eden Coelho came up large between the pipes in the second half, blocking nearly everything that came her away, while recording six of her eight saves in the second stanza. Edwards and Wu complimented Coelo's stellar netminding, scoring two straight to give Cal the two goal advantage, 8-6. Senior Colgate attacker Caitlin Houck responded with a goal at the 23:30 mark before the Bears went on another four-goal splurge, putting the game out of reach. Once again the Edwards-Wu combination was all that Cal would need as the two combined to score the final six goals for the Bears. The Raiders' McVeigh posted her second score of the game with 35 seconds left to play, but it was not enough as Cal rallied back for the 14-10 victory in the team's highest offensive output of the year.

The two teams combined for 32 fouls (16 each) and six yellow cards (three each) in an extremely physical game. The Raiders controlled 13 of the 20 draws, but the Bears answered by causing 12 turnovers to Colgate's three.

Cal continues its five-game homestand Sunday, March 23 as it challenges Harvard at 1:00 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

BOX SCORE:

	         1      2       F
Colgate          6	      4      10
California       4	      10	    14

GOALS: CAL - Emily Edwards 5, Julianne Wu 4, Carley Preble 2, Molly Brady 2, Colleen O'Mara. COLGATE - Kelly Winning 4, Kim Corcoran 2, Katie McVeigh 2, Becky Ortolano, Caitlin Houck.

ASSISTS: CAL - Carley Preble, Julianne Wu, Colleen O'Mara. COLGATE - Rebecca Sandler, Kelly Winning.

GOALKEEPING: CAL - Eden Coelho (60 minutes, 8 saves, 10 goals allowed). COLGATE - Sue Bielamowicz (60 minutes, 9 saves, 14 goals allowed).

SHOTS: COLGATE 23, CAL 27; FREE POSITION SHOTS: COLGATE 4, CAL 4; GROUNDBALLS: COLGATE 13, CAL 22; FOULS: COLGATE 16, CAL 16; TURNOVERS: COLGATE 22, CAL 7; CAUSED TURNOVERS: COLGATE 3, CAL 12; DRAW CONTROLS: COLGATE 13, CAL 7.