April 18, 2007
BERKELEY, CALIF. -
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Fri.,Apr. 20 Stanford, Spieker Aquatics Complex, 7:00 p.m.
BEARS HOST TOP-RANKED CARDINAL: No. 6 Cal (10-9, 6-5) is shooting for the upset as it hosts Bay Area rival and No. 1-ranked Stanford (21-1, 10-0) this Friday night in the 7 p.m. Big Splash at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Big Splash is part of the Lexus Gauntlet series, a contest to determine which university will have the most success against its rival in head-to-head competition this year. On Feb. 4, the Golden Bears battled the Cardinal tough in the third-place match of the Stanford Invitational, falling 7-5 at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. Cal was led by junior Molly Hayes' two goals, and 11 saves from junior goalie Heather Stuart. The Bears are looking for their first victory over the Cardinal since a 6-3 win at Stanford on Mar. 26, 2000. The Big Splash is Cal's final regular season contest before entering the MPSF Championship, Apr. 26-29, at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center in Tempe, Ariz. The Bears are in the second year under Richard Corso, the 1996 United States men's Olympic coach. In 2006, Cal was 18-9 and a school-record 9-3 in MPSF competition, placing fifth in the MPSF Tournament.
2007 CAL NOTES: The Bears split their two MPSF matches last week in southern California, falling to No. 3 USC, 12-7, and rebounding to defeat No. 19 CS Northridge, 10-7. Grace Reynolds is the Bears' leading scorer as a true freshman with 34 goals, including five goals in the season-opener versus Pacific. She also had four goals in a victory over Indiana and sent the Feb. 24 match versus Hawaii into overtime with a goal with 1:11 left in regulation (junior Vanessa Lindsey ended up notching the match-winning goal versus the Wahines with 1:24 left in the first overtime period). Reynolds is 15th in the MPSF with 1.79 goals per match. Hayes, who was Mar. 13 MPSF Player of the Week, is second on the team with 27 goals, while freshman Meghan Corso, daughter of head coach Richard Corso, is third on the squad with 26 goals. Hayes now has 55 career goals after earning first-team USWP All-America and 20-Under Nationals MVP honors this past summer. Goalie Stuart has recorded 142 saves in 18 matches this season, with a career-high 15 saves in the Bears' 5-4 overtime victory over Hawaii on Feb. 24.
RETURN OF WINDES: Cal has regain the services of lone senior and three-time All-American Elsie Windes (19 goals in 14 matches in 2007, 143 career goals), who missed five matches when she was at the 2007 FINA World Championships, Mar. 19-31, in Melbourne, Australia. Windes played 12 minutes in Team USA's 6-5 gold medal win over Australia, and scored a goal in the 9-7 opening round victory versus The Netherlands. Windes joined former Cal stars and two-time Olympians, Heather Petri and Ericka Lorenz, on the victorious United States squad.
NOTING STANFORD: No. 1 Stanford (21-1, 10-0) is coached by John Tanner (10th year) and is led by sophomore Lauren Silver with 54 goals. Last season, Cal fell three times to the Cardinal, including an 8-4 MPSF match on Apr. 2 at Avery Aquatics Complex. Stanford only loss this season was, 8-6, Feb. 3 to USC in the second round of the Stanford Invitational. Last week, the Cardinal defeated No. 2 UCLA, 7-6, in overtime. Bear freshman Camille Hewko's sister, Christina, is a senior of the Cardinal squad and was last week's MPSF Player of the Week.
HEAD COACH: Richard Corso (Second year, 28-18, .609), a coaching legend who has served as head coach of both the United States Men's Olympic Team and the Canadian National Team, was named the head coach of Cal women's water polo program on August 25, 2005. Corso served as the United States men's Olympic team head coach from 1992 to 1996. He led the United States to a seventh-place finish at the 1996 games in Atlanta and a gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. The 1996 Olympic team included current Cal men's coach Kirk Everist and former Golden Bear standouts Gavin Arroyo, Troy Barnhart, Chris Humbert and Chris Oeding. Prior to assuming his role with Team USA, Corso served as head coach of the Canadian National Team, which finished fourth at the 1991 Pan American Games. He also gained international experience as the head coach of the USA National Junior Team (1984 to 1988) and as goalkeeper coach for the 1984 and 2004 Olympic teams. Most recently, Corso had served as head coach of the Harvard Water Polo Foundation in Los Angeles.
Did You Know?
*Two members of the 2007 Cal squad, junior Molly Hayes and freshman Grace Reynolds, have brothers (twin brother Mike Hayes, Frank Reynolds) who were members of the Bears' 2006 National Champion men's water polo team.
*At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Cal had three former players (Ericka Lorenz, Heather Petri, Courtney Johnson) compete for Team USA in the first-ever Olympic water polo competition for women, earning a silver medal. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Lorenz and Petri helped the United States to a bronze medal.
*The Golden Bears have compiled a 257-100 record (.720, 62-19 at Spieker Aquatics, .765) since their charter season as a varsity sport in 1996, including three straight national runner-up finishes from 1996-98 and a MPSF title in 1999.
