Feb. 1, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The No. 5 California women's water polo team won two games on the second day of the NorCal Open, beating Pacific, 14-4, in the morning game and No. 9 UC Davis, 9-7, in the afternoon. The Golden Bears now improve to 7-0 on the season.
"The team is improving every day," Cal head coach Richard Corso said. "We're excited that the team is getting better each day, each game, each period, each training session. Today's game against UCD was a physical game."
The Bears scored seven goals in the first half, all the while shutting down the Tiger offense to take a 7-0 lead. Pacific got on the board in the third period with two goals but Cal scored three of its own to increase its lead to 10-2. The Tigers could not mount an offense in the final period and the Bears scored four more to bring the final to 14-1.
Freshman Emily Csikos, sophomore Coral Kemp and juniors Meghan Corso and Camille Hewko each scored two goals to lead the Bears. Goalkeepers redshirt freshman Stephanie Peckham and senior Lauren Burke split the game in goal with Peckham grabbing eight saves and Burke with four saves.
The afternoon game against No. 9 UC Davis was Cal's third game of the season against ranked opposition. The first quarter saw a close battle with the teams emerging in a 3-3 tie at the end of the first eight minutes. Cal responded with four goals in the second stanza and silenced the UCD offense to take a 7-3 lead into the locker room.
The teams switched sides in the third period and so did the tide, with UC Davis scoring two and keeping the Bears scoreless. With the score at 7-5 in favor of the Bears, each team tacked on two goals in the final quarter of regulation. Cal's four-goal second period proved to be key, and the Bears won the game, 9-7.
Csikos paced the Bears with three while Corso had two against the Aggies. Peckham played the entirety of the game and made 12 saves.
Cal will travel to Fort Collins, Colo., for the Colorado Invitational from Feb. 7-8 at Colorado State.
Score by period 1 2 3 4 F
No. 5 Cal 4 3 3 4 14
Pacific 0 0 2 0 2
Cal goals: Meghan Corso 2, Emily Csikos 2, Camille Hewko 2, Coral Kemp 2, Julie Oreglia 2, Laura Wood 2, Paige Lorenz 1, Jessica Robinson 1
Cal saves: Stephanie Peckham 8, Lauren Burke 4
Score by period 1 2 3 4 F
No. 5 Cal 3 4 0 2 9
No. 9 UCD 3 0 2 2 7
Cal goals: Emily Csikos 3, Meghan Corso 2, Remy Champion 1, Camille Hewko 1, Paige Lorenz 1, Erin Scully 1
Cal saves: Stephanie Peckham 12
