April 7, 2001

STANFORD, Calif. - California battled through a tough contest with Stanford Saturday afternoon but came up three goals short in the end, dropping a Western Women's Lacrosse League game to the Cardinal, 13-10, on Maloney Field. Junior attacker Halsey Monger worked all day around the cage, leading the Bears offense with a goal and two assists.

"We scored the majority of our goals in transition," said California head coach Jill Malko. "I thought we kept shooting from up top and not changing the angle and I think that was a problem for us."

Senior midfielder Sarah Wheatley came up with the game's first goal just 1:56 into the match. From that point Stanford (9-3 overall, 4-0 in the WWLL) recovered, engaging the Bears in what would become a back and forth struggle throughout the first half. Freshman midfielder Julianne Wu delivered back-to-back goals in the half, but California (8-5, 1-3 in the WWLL) would eventually find itself trailing 8-6 by halftime.

"I thought Julianne Wu played a fantastic game," said Malko of Wu, who was everywhere the ball was Saturday, from down around the cage to both sides of the midfield. "Alana Dunnigan also did an excellent job on defense. Whoever we put her on, she shut them down."

Stanford outscored the Bears 4-1 in the first 18 minutes of the second half before sophomore midfielder Jessie Liu stepped-up with back-to-back goals of her own to bring Cal within three, 12-9, with 8:53 remaining on the clock. A Cardinal goal a few minutes later was then answered by Monger, but the Bears were unable to string together any offensive momentum to narrow the gap further.

"For most of the game the team felt that they could win, but something changed and I felt the team just gave up," said Malko, despite the many Cal parents, fans and UC Rally Committee members in attendance ensuring a vocal Bears cheering section down on the Farm. "I told them that that is unacceptable. There was no excitement or energy when we cut the lead down to three, and that killed us."

California returns to action next Saturday, April 14, when the Bears travel to Moraga to take on St. Mary's College in another WWLL match-up at 1:00 p.m.

GOALS: Cal - Liu 2, Wu 2, LeMoult 1, Wheatley 1, Kado 1, Monger 1, Must 1, O'Mara 1, Stanford - Strumolo 3, Hills 3, Lanese 2, Osterwise 2, Barnes 1, Rodriguez 1, Sawyer 1. ASSISTS: Cal - Monger 2, Edwards 1, O'Mara 1, Stanford - Lanese 3, Britt 1, Strumolo 1, Barnes 1, Rodriguez 1, Osterwise 1, Conte 1. SAVES: Cal - Coelho n/a, Stanford - Neumann 13, Shamos 2. SHOTS: Cal n/a, Stanford 39.