April 24, 2007
BERKELEY, CALIF. -
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Thu.-Sun., Apr. 26-29 at MPSF Tournament,
Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, Tempe, Ariz. All Day
BEARS TRAVEL TO MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP: No. 6 Cal (10-10, 6-6), fresh off of its narrow 10-8 defeat to No. 1-ranked Stanford last Friday in the Big Splash at Spieker Aquatics Complex, travels to Arizona State this week for the all-important 2007 MPSF Championship. The Golden Bears, paced by three-time All-American and USA National Team member Elsie Windes, is the seventh seeded team and will face No. 10-seed Long Beach State (7-16) in the opening round, Thursday, Apr. 26 at 2 p.m. If Cal wins, it will play No. 2-seeded and defending national champion UCLA (22-2) at 12:40 p.m. on Friday, Apr. 27. If the Bears upset the Bruins, they would play at 3:40 p.m. on Saturday, Apr. 28. The MPSF title match is at 3:40 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 29. Cal is attempting to qualify for an automatic or at-large berth into the eight-team NCAA Championship, May 11-13 in Los Alamitos, Calif. 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. Cal is looking to advance to the national tournament for the first time since they placed fourth in the nation in 2000. The Bears captured the 1999 MPSF Tournament title, and was national runner-ups from 1996-1998.
WINDES AND ANDERSON GARNER MPSF HONORS: Windes and freshman Darby Anderson were recipients of 2007 MPSF all-leagues honors, announced Tuesday by the league coaches. Windes, who has scored 21 goals in 15 matches this season, including two last Friday versus Stanford, was named second-team All-MPSF. She enters the MPSF Tournament with 145 career goals. Windes missed five matches this year 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 had a goal in the 9-7 opening round victory versus The Netherlands. She joined former Cal stars and two-time Olympians, Heather Petri and Ericka Lorenz, on the United States squad. Anderson, who also notched a goal against the Cardinal on Friday, has 16 goals in 20 matches, and was named to the MPSF All-Freshman Team.
2007 CAL NOTES: The Bears' leading scorer is freshman Grace Reynolds with 35 goals. Reynolds 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). Freshman Meghan Corso, daughter of head coach Richard Corso, is second on the squad with 29 goals, including a team-high three goals last Friday versus Stanford. Junior Molly Hayes, who was Mar. 13 MPSF Player of the Week, is third on the squad with 27 goals and now has 55 career goals. Junior goalie Heather Stuart has 147 saves in 19 matches, with a career-high 15 saves in the Bears' 5-4 overtime victory Feb. 24 over Hawaii.
NOTING LONG BEACH STATE: No. 14 Long Beach State (7-16) is coached by Catharine von Schwarz (first year) and is led by senior Christina Wensman with 42 goals. Led by freshman Julie Oreglia's three goals, the Bears defeated the 49ers earlier this season, 13-10, in a Mar. 11 MPSF match in Long Beach.
HEAD COACH: Richard Corso (Second year, 28-19, .595), 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 257-101 record (.718, 62-20 at Spieker Aquatics, .756) 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.
