April 19, 2003

Berkeley, Calif. - The Bears (13-7, 6-4, MPSF) entered halftime on the losing end of a 4-2 score, but rallied to outscore Pacific, 9-2, in the second half to claim an 11-6 victory this afternoon, April 19, in an MPSF matchup at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Cal sophomore Cara Chlebicki recorded a hat trick in the victory.

For the second match in a row the Bears got off to a slow start, being outscored 3-0 in the first period of play. It was not due to a lack of offense, though, as Cal peppered Pacific goalie Julie Ross with eight shots in the first stanza - hitting the crossbar twice coupled with six Ross saves. The Tigers' leading scorer Jessica Schroeder proved why she is just that, recording all three first period scores. Her first goal came at the 6:25 mark to give Pacific the early 1-0 lead. The junior then completed a nice spin in the set for her second goal at the 3:02 mark and again just 26 seconds later on a breakaway for the 3-0 lead.

California settled down defensively in the second stanza, making UOP work for its shots, while forcing multiple shot clock violations. Cal's leading scorer, Jodie Needles, tacked on her 29th goal of the season on a power play goal at the 3:41 mark to put the Bears on the board. Freshman Allison Gold brought Cal within one, 3-2, just 31 seconds later on her two-meter score and 18th of the year. With the Golden Bears officially back into the game, Pacific called a timeout at the 2:53 mark with a 20-second power play upon return to action. It paid off for the Tigers as Jessica Melcher and Kristin Cockerill connected with two ticks left on the man advantage to give UOP the 4-2 halftime lead.

The third period mirrored Cal's first period, but this time with a different result. The Bears threw up seven shots in the period, but were able to convert on three of them. Just 24 seconds into second half action, Cal sophomore Natalie Nelson started the scoring with her eighth goal of the year to bring the Bears within one, 4-3. Schroeder then responded with her fourth goal of the afternoon at the 4:56 mark to extend the Tigers' lead to two once again. That's when Cal's Chlebicki took over, closing out the period with two consecutive scores to tie the match at 5-5 entering the final period.

With the momentum going their direction, the Bears capitalized by recording their largest single quarter scoring output of the season with six goals. Chlebicki got things started for the Bears as she stole the ball at mid-tank and played give-and-go with Needles to hand Cal its first lead of the afternoon, 6-5. Needles followed that up with her second score at the 4:22 mark to put the Bears up 7-5, but Pacific's Schroeder tallied her fifth goal of the afternoon to close the gap to one once again. That was all the scoring the Tigers saw, though, as Cal posted four unanswered goals down the stretch to claim the 11-6 victory. In the four-goal flurry, freshman attacker Shaina Feldman scored her first two goals of the year, while freshman attacker Brittani Llorente tallied her first.

Cal returns to action Friday - Saturday, April 25-27 as the No. 5-seed in the MPSF Tournament at Stanford.

No. 5 California 11, Pacific 6

		1	2	3	4	Total
Pacific		3	1	1	1	6
Cal		0	2	3	6	11

Pacific Goals: Jessica Schroeder 5, Kristin Cockerill. Pacific Goalie Saves: Julie Ross 11