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Feb. 20, 2007

BERKELEY - The California lacrosse team opens its season this Thursday and Sunday when its hosts Canisius College and Le Moyne College, two of the top teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Golden Bears host Canisius, in both teams' season opener, on Thursday at 3 p.m. and play Le Moyne College at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. The latter was picked to repeat as MAAC champion and Canisius tied for second in a preseason conference coaches' poll.

Cal looks to build on its successes of the past few years with a deep, experienced team that will again challenge for a conference title and a postseason berth. Jill Malko, who enters her ninth year as the head coach of the Golden Bears, compiled a 4-1 record in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation last year to earn a share of the MPSF regular-season crown. The Cal team that won that title loses two starters, but Malko brings back the bulk of the team along with a talented group of newcomers that boosts several areas of the team and the defense in particular.

The sophomore class that had such a strong 2005 season is now Cal's senior class and features some of the best players on Malko's team. Laura Cavallo and Liz Reifsnyder, Cal's co-leading scorers from a year ago with 51 points each, goalie Hilary Lynch, Jocelyn Paul and defensive whiz Kathryn Lindler hope to end their college careers on a winning note. Lynch and junior teammate Meghan Bushnell repeat as team captains; Reifsnyder is a third captain for the Bears in 2007.

Sherry Joins Coaching Staff
Malko added assistant coach Theresa Sherry, a three-time first team All-American lacrosse player for Princeton University, to her staff during the past offseason.

In addition to being named All-American in 2002, 2003 and 2004, Sherry was a finalist for the Tewarraton Award as the nation's top women's lacrosse player as a senior in 2004. She helped the Tigers to NCAA Championships in both 2002 and 2003 as well as the NCAA semifinals in 2001 and the final in 2004. The Tigers also captured Ivy League Championships in each of her four seasons at the school. A four-time All-Ivy League selection, she was the conference's Player of the Year in 2004.

Sherry was also a four-year letterwinner for the Princeton women's soccer team, serving as a team captain and helping the program to three Ivy League Championships.

Scouting the Golden Griffins
Canisius tied Fairfield for second, with 48 points, in the preseason MAAC coaches' poll, behind Le Moyne. The Golden Griffins had a 12-7 record last season, which ended with a first-ever appearance in the conference tournament final against Le Moyne, which won, 15-10.

This year, the Griffins had two players voted to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. Reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Whitney Card, a junior, and sophomore Ashley Gray earned the preseason accolades.

As a sophomore, Card set school records for a single season with 65 points and 53 goals. As a freshman, Gray (right) earned second-team All-MAAC honors after recording 31 goals, 19 assists and a team-best 67 groundballs.

Canisius freshman Alison Rusak and incoming freshman Carly Quinn were named to the 2007 Canadian U-19 Women's Field Lacrosse Team earlier this month. The team of 20 will represent Canada at the 2007 IFWLA U-19 World Championships in Peterborough, Ont., Canada, Aug. 4-11.

Scott Teeter is in his fifth year as head coach of Canisius.

Scouting the Dolphins
The Le Moyne Dolphins, who received 58 votes in the preseason MAAC coaches' poll, won the MAAC regular-season and tournament titles last year, beating Canisius in the tournament final. Le Moyne, which had a 15-4 record in 2006, was a perfect 7-0 in conference. The Dolphins then lost an NCAA tournament play-in to Holy Cross, 14-8.

Five Dolphins were picked for the 2007 Preseason All-MAAC Team. Whitney Vecchio, who finished the 2006 season with a program record 68 points on 28 goals and 40 assists. Lisa McCarthy, who finished her freshman season with 31 goals and 16 assists. Kristen Malecki finished the season with three goals and one assist out of the defensive end and caused 14 turnovers. Amanda Keegan, who finished with a team high of 45 goals, and 2006 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Samantha Falcone, who made 168 saves, had a goals against average of 8.53 and a save percentage of .509.

Lauren O'Connor is in her fifth year as head coach of Le Moyne.

Look Back at Last Year for the Bears
California had a strong start to a 2006 season that included a challenging schedule and the Golden Bears' first share of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season title. The Golden Bears upset rival and 17th-ranked Stanford, 9-6, in the season opener at home in Memorial Stadium in Berkeley to start a slate of nationally ranked opponents that included 2005 NCAA champion Northwestern, Notre Dame, Cornell and James Madison.

The Bears compiled an 8-11 overall record that included a 4-1 MPSF record, which tied Cal with the Cardinal and Denver for the conference's regular-season crown. Cal head coach Jill Malko saw her Bears move higher in the all-time record books and saw departing senior midfielder Leanne Zilioli set the all-time mark for the most games played (73) in the blue and gold.

Junior midfielder Laura Cavallo and attacker Liz Reifsnyder had another strong season, with the two tying for team scoring honors (51 points each). Cavallo led the Bears in goals (38) and draw controls (47), while Reifsnyder paced Cal in assists (career-high 20). The latter also garnered conference and national accolades for scoring a hat trick in the upset of Stanford, as she was named the MPSF Player of the Week and the Inside Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week.

Reifsnyder wound up with the fourth-best season in dishing out assists, with 20 total and an average of 1.05 per game, while Cavallo wound up with the fifth-best goalscoring season ever by a Bear, with 38 total and an average of 2.00 per game. Cavallo also moved up to fourth-place on the all-time scoring chart, with 140 points in 56 games, and nabbed the Cal single-game record for most shots in a game, with 13 against Oregon.

Zilioli, who started all 19 games in her final season, scored 23 goals, seven assists and 30 points to wind up her Cal career as the eighth-leading scorer (117 points) in Bears history. She tied sophomore teammate Danni Zuralow for the team lead in free-position goals, with seven. Madeleine Dale had an outstanding freshman season, scoring 21 goals and one assist in 18 starts for the Bears. The Alexandria, Va., product also led Cal with three gamewinning goals in her debut season in Berkeley.

Ten Bears earned spots on the MPSF Academic All-Conference Team, with Sokolow and Zilioli making the grade for the third straight season. Joining them on the conference's academic team were teammates Cavallo, Reifsnyder, Zuralow, sophomore midfielder Cristen Andrews, sophomore defender Meghan Bushnell, sophomore defender Mary Downs, junior goalie Hilary Lynch and senior defender Erica Verdin. The latter, a valuable reserve and, in previous years, part-time starter, played in 10 games in her final season at Cal.