March 29, 2003

Berkeley, Calif. - In its first home match of the 2003 season this afternoon, March 29, the No. 5 Cal women's water polo team (11-5, 4-2) defeated the No. 9 San Jose State Spartans, 9-5, in an MPSF game at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley. The Bears claimed their third consecutive conference victory and fifth in the last six contests.

The Spartans claimed the early 1-0 lead on leading goal-scorer Christine Welsh's 30th goal of the year at the 4:46 mark of the first period. The lead would not last long as 37 seconds later, Cal freshman Allison Gold tied it up with her rocket shot from the right point, finding the back of the net and the tie. Fellow freshman Breana Allison followed suit with one of the prettiest goals of the day at the 1:36 mark to give the Golden Bears the 3-1 lead at the end of one period of play. Allison took the pass in the left low post and slipped it between goalie Nichole Lipman and the pipe for the two-goal advantage.

The game stayed relatively tight in the second stanza, as neither team could find the back of the net for the period's first 3:36. Cal came out on the short end of two man-advantage situations and the Spartans capitalized, knotting the score at 2-2 on Beth Harbert's goal at the 3:24 mark. The Bears responded with two unanswered scores from freshman Katie Card and sophomore Natalie Nelson to enter the break with the 4-2 advantage.

The third period saw seven goals scored between the two squads, with Cal claiming four unanswered in one stretch. Junior Lindy Spieker got things started for the Bears as she tallied the first score of the second half with two seconds remaining on the shot clock to give Cal the 5-2 edge. Following a San Jose State timeout, the Spartans cut the Bears' lead to 5-3 on Katie Morgan's winner from the left point.

Spieker got back into the action on the following score as she received the pass in front of the net and dished out to Cara Chlebicki skating down the right side for the score. Wanting to join the offensive party, Chlebicki then assisted on a similar play a minute later as she found an open Nelson on the right side for Nelson's second score of the day and the 7-3 lead. Gold got back into the action with her second goal of the afternoon at the 2:25 mark and then swung a cross-crease pass to Nelson at the 1:30 mark to assist on Nelson's hat trick. Down 9-3, the Spartans burned another timeout and again followed the pause in the action with a score, this time from freshman Deanna Lowry at the 1:10 mark. The third period ended with a 9-4 California advantage.

Very little offensively happened in the fourth period until the Spartans' Jamie Schneider tallied a score with 2:55 remaining. The late two-goal rally was not enough as the Bears cruised to the 9-5 victory and third consecutive conference win.

Cal returns for its second home match of the season Friday, April 4 at 4:00 p.m., as the Bears face No. 11 UC Santa Barbara in an MPSF match-up at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley.

No. 5 California 9, No. 9 SAN JOSE STATE 5 Spieker Aquatics Complex, Berkeley, Calif.

		1	2	3	4	Total
SJSU		1	1	2	1	5
Cal		2	2	5	0	9

Cal Goals: Natalie Nelson 3, Allison Gold 2, Lindy Spieker, Katie Card, Cara Chlebicki, Breana Allison.
Cal Goalie Saves: Lauren Dennis 5

SJSU Goals: Beth Harberts, Jamie Schneider, Christine Welsh, Deanna Lowry, Katie Morgan.
SJSU Goalie Saves: N/A