April 27, 2003

Stanford, Calif. - The No. 5 California women's water polo team ended its 2003 season with a sixth place finish at the MPSF Water Polo Tournament after falling to No. 7 San Diego State, 5-2, Sunday, April 27 at the Avery Pool in Stanford. Cal finishes the season with a 14-9 overall record and a 6-4 slate in the MPSF.

Arch nemesis and Bay Area rival Stanford claimed the MPSF title and a spot in the NCAA Championships with a 3-2 victory over No. 1 UCLA in the fifth sudden victory period.

All season long the young pass-happy Bears' offense has been last in the conference in scoring and they proved it today, only able to post two-goals in the loss. Averaging just 6.23 goals per game entering today's game, Cal could not reach its season average, tallying its second lowest goal output of the season with only two goals.

However, the Bears did take a brief 1-0 lead into the second period, but went into the break tied at one apiece. The Cal defense held the fifth-ranked MPSF offense to just four second half scores, but the Bears could not muster an offensive attack of their own, recording just one second half score.

With one of the two goals on the day, sophomore Cara Chlebicki recorded three goals over the weekend to give her 24 on the year, eclipsing her career season high of 22 set last season as a freshman. Freshman Allison Gold led the squad in scoring, tallying at least one goal in all three games for four goals on the weekend. Gold finished the season with 22 goals to place third on the team.

GAME SUMMARY
Sunday, April 27, 2003
#7 San Diego State vs. #5 California

Team		            1	2	3	4	Total
San Diego State	  0	1	3	1	5
California	       1	0	1	0	2

San Diego State Scoring: Casey Finnegan 2, Holly Hartzell 1, Sandy Onweller 1, Amber Prestegard 1. California Scoring: Cara Chlebicki 1, Allison Gold 1. Goalie Saves: Ashley Zabel (SDSU) 10; Lauren Dennis (California) 5. 6-on-5: San Diego State 1-8; California 2-5. Penalty Shots: California 0-1.