March 26, 2003

Berkeley, Calif. - With a balanced scoring attack that featured seven different scorers, the California women's lacrosse team (8-1, 2-0, MPLL) won its eighth in a row this afternoon in Berkeley, handily defeating Brown, 11-5, at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. The Bears have won eight consecutive home matches dating back to 2002, and have secured the program's longest winning streak ever.

For the fourth match in a row, the Bears faced an early 1-0 deficit as Brown senior Rebekah Rottenberg took the dish from fellow senior Maggie Connolly and found the back of the net for the lead. The Brown advantage lasted only 3:25 before Cal's freshman sensation Leanne Zilioli put Cal on the board with her first of two goals on the day. Sophomore Molly Brady and junior Julianne Wu (free position) netted back-to-back scores to put the Bears ahead 3-1 with 7:44 left to play in the first half. The Brown Bears responded just 13 seconds later when freshman midfielder Kate Staley slipped one past the Cal netminder, cutting the Cal lead to one, 3-2. That was as close as Brown would get for the rest of the match as sophomore Erin Hafkenschiel and senior co-captain Jessie Liu combined for the next two scores for the 5-2 lead. Brown's Rottenberg cut into the Cal lead just before the half, scoring an unassisted goal with 21ticks left on the clock. With the half seemingly over, Wu took the pass off the draw and looked poised to make a run, but missed the net wide as time was running out. The teams went into the break with a 5-3 Golden Bear lead.

Cal completely dominated the second half, outscoring Brown 6-2. But more than just the score differential, the Bears' defense stepped it up. Sophomore defender Freya Lund came up strong on the defensive end, not letting any Brown players past her line of defense for most of the afternoon. Senior goalkeeper Eden Coelho also played extremely well, facing a barrage of shots while recording eight of her 12 saves in the second stanza.

With the defense playing solidly, it contributed to a precise and efficient offense that scored on six of its eight shots in the second period of play. Junior Colleen O'Mara tallied the first of her two second half goals at the 6:04 mark to launch a string of six unanswered for the Gold and Blue. Brady, junior Emily Edwards, Wu and Zilioli were the other Cal players to score in the stretch, handing the Golden Bears a commanding 11-3 advantage with 4:34 left to play.

Both sides sent in the reserve players with a little over four minutes left and the game seemingly decided. For the second time this season, Cal utilized all non-injured players on its roster. Sophomore goalkeeper Kathryn Calligaro made her second appearance of the season, stopping two shots while collecting two ground balls. Brown did test the sophomore netminder, though, tallying two late scores to gain a certain measure of respect. Junior Emily Blanton and freshman Meg Sullivan each found the back of the net late in the game, but it was not enough as Cal cruised to the 11-5 victory and eighth straight.

Cal concludes its five-game homestand Friday, March 28 as it challenges the University of Maryland-Baltimore County at 4:00 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

BOX SCORE:

	      1      2       F
Brown         3	     2       5
California    5	     6	     11

GOALS: CAL - Julianne Wu 2, Colleen O'Mara 2, Leanne Zilioli 2, Molly Brady 2, Erin Hafkenschiel, Emily Edwards, Jessie Liu. BROWN - Rebekah Rottenberg 2, Kate Staley, Emily Blanton, Meg Sullivan.

ASSISTS: CAL - Colleen O'Mara, Carley Preble, Julianne Wu. BROWN - Sarah Passano, Maggie Connolly.

GOALKEEPING: CAL - Eden Coelho (55 minutes, 12 saves, 3 goals allowed); Kathryn Calligaro (5 minutes, 2 saves, 2 goals allowed). BROWN - Julia Southard (60 minutes, 11 saves, 11 goals allowed).

SHOTS: BROWN 31, CAL 27; FREE POSITION SHOTS: BROWN 1, CAL 6; GROUNDBALLS: BROWN 14, CAL 27; FOULS: BROWN 23, CAL 19; TURNOVERS: BROWN 15, CAL 12; CAUSED TURNOVERS: BROWN 13, CAL 11; DRAW CONTROLS: BROWN 12, CAL 7.