April 3, 2007

BERKELEY - California concludes a four-game road trip with games against national powers Notre Dame and Northwestern. The Golden Bears play the 12th-ranked Irish at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 7, in Notre Dame, Ind., and then battle the two-time defending the NCAA champion Wildcats at 4 p.m. CT on Monday, April 9. Northwestern is ranked No. 1 in both the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll and the InsideLacrosse.com poll.

The Bears have a 0-3 record in the all-time series with each school.

Scouting the Irish
Notre Dame has a 9-2 record, a 4-1 home record and a four-game winning streak after defeating Duquesne, 15-7, on Sunday as part of the Irish's current five-game homestand.

Two of the victories during Notre Dame's streak came at the expense of Ohio State, 16-9 on March 21, and Connecticut, 12-11 on March 30. Both those teams have beaten Cal this season. Another common opponent is Canisius, which both Cal and the Irish defeated.

Sophomore midfielder/attacker Jillian Byers (38 goals, 7 assists) and junior midfielder/attacker Caitlin McKinney (32, 13) are tied for the Irish scoring lead with 45 points each. McKinney also paces Notre Dame with four gamewinning goals, while Byers has two. Senior midfielder Kaki Orr has 35 draw controls to lead the Irish.

Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Goodman has a 9.43 goals-against average and also leads the Irish with 31 ground balls.

Tracy Coyne is in her 10th year as head coach of Notre Dame, which hosts Duke at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 5, before playing Cal.

Scouting the Wildcats
Northwestern has a 7-1 record after routing 19th-ranked Duke, 22-5, on April 1 in Evanston, Ill. The Wildcats are on a seven-game winning streak after a season-opening 9-8 loss to North Carolina. They also host to Duke, on Saturday, April 7, before playing Cal.

The Wildcats sport the best player in the country in senior midfielder Kristen Kjellman, who won the 2006 Tewaaraton Trophy as the top Division I women's lacrosse player and the 2006 Honda Award for women's lacrosse. Kjellman (25, 12) is currently tied with sophomore midfielder/attacker Hilary Bowman (22, 15) as Northwestern's second-leading scorer with 37 points each. Kjellman also leads NU in draw controls (24) and gamewinning goals (3). She's tied for the team high in ground balls (12).

Sophomore midfielder Hannah Nielsen (19, 22) is NU's scoring leader (41 points) and assist leader (22), while Kjellman leads her team in goals (25).

Sophomore goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop has a 5.59 GAA in eight starts for the Wildcats.

Kelly Amonte Hiller, the 2005 IWLCA Coach of the Year, is in her sixth season as Northwestern's head coach.

Last Time Out:
Cal Edged by Ohio State, 9-8, in OT
California sophomore midfielder Elizabeth "T" Jahp scored a late goal to force overtime against Ohio State, but the host Buckeyes defeated Cal, 9-8, in the extra session on Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Cal's record fell to 5-3, while Ohio State improved to 6-2.

The Bears, who had beaten Ohio State once in each of the previous three seasons, are now 0-2 on their four-game road trip after also losing to Vanderbilt, 9-6, on March 28 in Nashville, Tenn.

Freshman midfielder Alyse Kennedy (1 goal, 1 assist), senior midfielder Liz Reifsnyder (2 goals) and sophomore attacker Madeleine Dale (2 goals) collected two points each to tie for the Cal scoring lead. OSU's Kristen Slahor led all scorers with three points from three goals.

Bears senior goalkeeper Hilary Lynch made nine saves, while counterpart Kristen Gilwee made 13 for Ohio State.

Cal had taken a 3-2 halftime lead on two goals by Dale and one by junior attacker Danni Zuralow, who opened the scoring 54 seconds into the game with an unassisted strike. Slahor and Kendall Gysin scored for the Buckeyes.

Bears junior midfielder Cristen Andrews scored first in the second half, with an unassisted goal at 37:19 to give Cal a 4-2 advantage. But Slahor scored twice during a 4-0 Ohio State run to give the home team a 6-4 lead.

Cal rebounded with a 3-0 run, with Reifsnyder scoring twice and Kennedy, at 45:34, notching her lone goal that gave the Bears a 7-6 lead.

A pair of free-position shots by Amanda Shimp and Kelly Haggerty gave OSU an 8-7 lead at 54:49, before Jahp's heroics at 55:58 sent the game to overtime.

The Buckeyes' Keri Yourick struck one minute and 29 seconds into overtime to claim the victory for OSU.

Kennedy Stars in First Start
Freshman Alyse Kennedy had a memorable first career start for Cal, scoring a career-high seven points in the Bears' 16-7 victory over Colgate on March 13 at Memorial Stadium. Kennedy scored a career-high five goals and added a career-high two assists and five draw controls against the Red Raiders.

Through seven games and three starts, Kennedy (9, 4) is tied with freshman Tighe Hutchins as Cal's sixth-leading scorer with 13 points.

Reifsnyder Named MPSF Player of the Week
California senior Liz Reifsnyder was named the MPSF Player of the Week after leading the Bears to season-opening victories over Canisius and Le Moyne on Feb. 22 and 25, respectively. A product of Washington, D.C, Reifsnyder scored two goals and collected three assists in the opener against Canisius and led all scorers with six points against Le Moyne. Reifsnyder had four goals and two assists against the Dolphins.

Through six games, and five starts, Reifsnyder has scored 13 goals, 8 assists and 21 points.

Cavallo Leads Bears in Scoring
Cal senior midfielder Laura Cavallo has led Cal in scoring in each of the last two seasons, tying Liz Reifsnyder with 51 points each in 2006 and pacing the Bears with 62 points in a breakthrough sophomore season of 2005. So far, this year is no exception. The product of Bay Shore, N.Y., has a team-high 28 points (19, 9). She also leads Cal in goals (19), assists (9) and draw controls (20).

Cavallo ranks fifth in scoring in the MPSF at 4.00 ppg.

Downs Having Career Year
More of a defensive player in years past, junior Mary Downs is playing more in midfield this year and already has a single-season career-high eight points, from four goals and a career-high four assists. The product of Alexandria, Va., has also collected a career-best 19 draw controls through eight games.

Lynch Protecting Cal's Net
Senior goalkeeper Hilary Lynch has a 7.79 GAA in eight starts and had led the MPSF in lowest GAA last week. The presence of sophomore goalkeeper Morgan Dyson, who has played 46 minutes and 50 seconds so far this year, has given Lynch the chance to take a breather now and then, after Lynch played every minute in goal during her first two seasons as a Bear.

Aungier Back on Track
Cal junior attacker Brittany Aungier has picked up where she left off after missing the 2006 season due to injury. The Syracuse, N.Y., native was the Bears' sixth-leading scorer in 2005 with 25 points (15, 10) through 19 games. Through three starts and eight total games this season, Aungier has 15 points (8, 7).

Dale Picks up the Pace
Bears sophomore attacker Madeleine Dale is also on pace to score more than she did in 2006, when she had 21 points (21, 1). Another Alexandria, Va., product, Dale has 14 goals, two assists and 16 points in eight starts. She also leads the Bears with two gamewinning goals.