April 22, 2008

BERKELEY - California (9-6, 4-0 MPSF) hosts No. 18 Denver (10-5, 3-0 MPSF) in an important Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, in Memorial Stadium. Cal and Denver have already secured the top two seeds and accompanying first-round byes in the MPSF Championship tournament April 30-May 3 in Berkeley, with the winner of the Cal-Denver game taking the MPSF regular-season title and the tournament's No. 1 seed. Also, prior to Saturday's match, Cal will honor its four seniors - midfielders Cristen Andrews and Mary Downs and attackers Brittany Aungier and Danni Zuralow - as part of Senior Day.

If the Pioneers defeat Cal on Saturday, giving Cal a 4-1 final MPSF record, Denver could lose to Saint Mary's on April 27 in Moraga, Calif., and still claim the MPSF regular-season title and No. 1 seed with a 4-1 conference record since its head-to-head result with Cal would be the tiebreaker.

Aungier Named MPSF Player of the Week
Cal senior attacker Brittany Aungier was named one of the MPSF Players of the Week on April 21 after scoring a career high seven points and tying a school record with five assists in the Bears' 16-13 win over Connecticut on April 18 in Storrs, Conn. Denver's Kelly O'Connell shared this week's conference award.

Aungier, who also scored two goals against the Huskies, tied the assist mark first set by former Cal star Colleen O'Mara, who accomplished the feat twice, and current sophomore midfielder Alyse Kennedy, who recorded five assists in a game earlier this year.

The point total for Aungier tied the Syracuse, N.Y., product for fourth place on Cal's all-time single-game scoring list. O'Mara holds the record of nine points and three Bears, including Kennedy, have each scored eight points in a single game.

This marks the first MPSF weekly award of Aungier's career, the third straight conference award for Cal and the sixth for the Bears this season. Cal junior goalkeeper Morgan Dyson and Kennedy each earned one MPSF honor. Senior attacker Danni Zuralow collected the Bears' other three conference honors.

So far this season, Cal has collected the most MPSF Player of the Week honors in the six-team conference field. Stanford, with five, ranks second.

Scouting the Golden Bears Cal is coming off an 11-7 loss to Columbia on April 21 in New York, N.Y. Junior attacker Madeleine Dale led the Bears with three points (2 goals, 1 assist), while Columbia's Holly Glynn led all scorers with six points (3 goals, 3 assists). The loss, which came in the last game of a stretch of seven away from home, snapped Cal's five-game winning streak.

Danni Zuralow leads Cal in points (51), goals (36), free-position goals (13), game-winning goals (3) and caused turnovers (18); she also has 15 assists. Zuralow also paces the MPSF in total free-position goals (13) and free-position goals per game (0.87). Also in the conference, she ranks third in shots per game (5.13), ranks fourth in points per game (3.33) and goals per game (2.33), is tied for second in game-winning goals (3) and is tied for fifth in assists per game (1.00).

Brittany Aungier leads Cal in assists (18) and ranks second in points (42) and goals (24). She ranks just ahead of Zuralow in assists per game (1.20) in the MPSF.

Four more Bears have scored in double-digit points: Alyse Kennedy (22 goals, 7 assists, 29 points), Madeleine Dale (19, 7, 26), junior defender Sam Price (12, 7, 19) and sophomore midfielder Alex Tickner (15, 3, 18). Kennedy and Tickner are tied for the Cal lead in draw controls (28 each). Tickner and Cristen Andrews are tied for the Cal lead in ground balls (26 each).

Cal freshman goalkeeper Allie Shropshire has a 10.11 goals-against average in 11 games and four starts, while junior Morgan Dyson has an 11.01 GAA in 14 games and 11 starts. Shropshire and Dyson rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the MPSF's GAA category. Also, Shropshire (.462) and Dyson (.455) rank second and third, respectively, in the conference's save percentage category.

Theresa Sherry, a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion at Princeton, is in her first year as head coach at Cal. Sherry began her Cal career as an assistant coach last season.

Scouting the Pioneers
Denver, ranked 18th by Inside Lacrosse magazine, has won four straight games. The last one was a 13-9 upset of then-No. 19 Stanford on April 20 in Denver, Colo. Senior defender Kelly O'Connell earned co-MPSF Player of the Week honors after collecting a school single-game record eight caused turnovers against Stanford and four caused turnovers in a 19-8 win over UC Davis on April 18 also in Denver.

Junior midfielder Karen Morton, who was named to the 2007 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association (IWLCA) All-Regional first team for the West/Midwest, is Denver's fourth-leading scorer (40 points from 30 goals, 10 assists) and paces her team in 31 draw controls. The former member of Australia's under-19 national team also has 28 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers this season.

Junior attacker Steph Coyne leads Denver in points (67) and assists (41) and ranks fourth on the team in goals (26). Junior attacker Megan Carver is Denver's second-leading scorer (47 points from 29 goals, 18 assists). Sophomore midfielder Ali Flury, the 2007 MPSF Newcomer of the Year who ranks third in DU scoring (43 points) in 2008, paces the Pioneers in goals (38) and has three assists.

Liza Kelly is in her second year as head coach of the Pioneers.

Dyson Honored Twice after Upset of Oregon
Morgan Dyson was named the MPSF Player of the Week and earned a spot on the WomensLacrosse.com honor roll after tying a career high with 14 saves in Cal's 12-8 upset of then-No. 19/20 Oregon on April 12 in Eugene, Ore. This was the first MPSF Player of the Week award in Dyson's career.

Kennedy Named MPSF Player of the Week after Career Game
Alyse Kennedy earned her first MPSF Player of the Week award after leading the Bears with a career-high eight points and school-record tying five assists in Cal's 21-10 victory over UC Davis on April 5 in Davis, Calif. Kennedy's eight points tie her for second place on Cal's all-time single-game scoring list. Kennedy's five assists tie her for first place in Cal history. Kennedy also collected one goal and one assist in Cal's 15-2 win over Saint Mary's on April 2 in Moraga, Calif.

Zuralow Claims 3 MPSF Player of the Week Honors
Danni Zuralow earned her third MPSF Player of the Week honor for her play in the Bears' 13-11 win over George Washington on March 20. She scored a game-high four goals, including the game winner and the last two goals of the game. Zuralow also earned MPSF Player of the Week honors for her play against Northwestern (career-high 6 points) on Feb. 17 and Stanford (career-high 5 goals) on Feb. 23.

Up Next:
Bears Host MPSF Tournament April 30-May 3 in Memorial Stadium
Cal hosts the fifth annual MPSF Women's Lacrosse Championship tournament April 30-May 3 in Memorial Stadium. Stanford won the last three MPSF tournament titles; Cal won the 2004 MPSF tournament crown.