March 4, 2013

BERKELEY -

3.4laxnotes

Tuesday, March 5 vs. Saint Mary's
4 p.m. PT - Cal (0-2, 0-0 MPSF) vs. Saint Mary's (1-2, 1-2 MPSF)
Memorial Stadium - Berkeley, Calif.
Series Record: 20-1
Last Meeting: W, 18-6 (2/19/12 at Saint Mary's)
Coverage: Live Video
Live Stats

Sunday, March 10 vs. UC Davis
2 p.m. PT - Cal (0-2, 0-0 MPSF) vs. UC Davis (1-2, 0-1 MPSF)
Memorial Stadium - Berkeley, Calif.
Series Record: 16-11
Last Meeting: W, 15-10 (4/4/12 at UC Davis)
Coverage: Live Video
Live Stats

BERKELEY - For the first time since 2010, the California lacrosse team will play a home game at Memorial Stadium after calling Witter Rugby Field home for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The Golden Bears will open their home schedule with a four-game homestand beginning with Bay Area and MPSF foes Saint Mary's and UC Davis this week. Cal faces the Gaels first on Tuesday, March 5, at 4 p.m., followed by the Aggies on Sunday, March 10, at 2 p.m.

A Look at the 2013 Golden Bears
• Cal dropped its first two contests of 2013 - an 11-5 loss at James Madison and a 7-5 loss at UMBC. Despite suffering the two losses, the Bears still played strong defensively, keeping the games close until the end.
• Leading the way with Cal's strong defensive front last week was junior goalie Megan McGinnis who registered a combined 17 saves last week.
• 2012 MPSF Player of the Year Megan Takacs was kept off the scoresheet last week, but she still paced Cal in shots (14) and draw controls (5).
• Paige Gasparino is Cal's leading scorer through the first two contests with three goals and an assist good for four points. She scored twice against UMBC.
• Paige's sister, true freshman Brynn Gasparino, netted her first collegiate goal, which was also Cal's first goal of 2013.
• Melissa Humphrey notched her 50th career goal against James Madison.
• Ginger Miles continues her second season as head coach at Cal. She previously coached Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for two seasons, leading CMS to NCAA Tournament second-round appearances both years.
• Miles' 2013 staff includes the return of assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Allison Comito, an erstwhile NCAA champion and All-American at Maryland, and first-year assistant Lauren Schmidt, a former Stanford All-American who started all four years on The Farm and competed in two NCAA Tournaments with the Cardinal.

McGinnis Keeps Bears In It
Megan McGinnis did everything she could to try to get the Bears their first win of 2013 last week. She collected eight saves in the opener at James Madison and nine more saves at UMBC, giving her an early save percentage of .486 and a goals-against average of 9.00. McGinnis, who played all 120 minutes in the two games, was a catalyst in Cal keeping both games close until the end. She only allowed three goals in the first half of both matches.

Scouting Saint Mary's
• Tuesday's contest will be Saint Mary's fourth of the season (1-2) and also its fourth straight MPSF contest
• The Gaels picked up their first win of the season in their last contest, an overtime victory over UC Davis, 16-15
• Amanda Cross is Saint Mary's early leading scorer with 11 points (6 goals, five assists)
• Jillian Chong leads the team in goals with seven and Jaclyn Biggers currently boasts 17 draw controls
• Chong's goal with 54 seconds remaining proved to be the game winner against the Aggies

Scouting UC Davis
• Like Saint Mary's, the Aggies are currently 1-2, but they will face USC in Davis on Wednesday before coming to Berkeley for Sunday's match
• UC Davis' lone win of the season came against Stetson, a future Cal opponent (April 1 at Memorial Stadium)
• Elizabeth Datino leads the Aggies in scoring with 17 points (11 goals, six assists)
• UC Davis goalie Kai Murphy has made 12 saves with a GAA of 9.75 through the first three games
• Hannah Mirza, second on the team in goals with five, has registered 17 draw controls

Last Time Vs. Saint Mary's and UC Davis
Cal defeated both Saint Mary's and UC Davis on the road when these teams met in 2012. In the 18-6 win over the Gaels, Melissa Humphrey posted nine points to tie a Golden Bear single-game record and collected six assists to set a new single-game record. Making her first collegiate start at goalie, Megan McGinnis posted six saves.
In the 10-5 win over UC Davis, McGinnis made a game-high 10 saves in 60 minutes of work. Facing Elizabeth Datino from UC Davis, who had been ranked as high as second in the nation in points, was held to four points - two goals and two assists. Humphrey paced Cal in scoring in this contest, garnering seven points - two goals and five assists - while Megan Takacs notched six points - five goals and one assist.

Humphrey Notches 50th career goal
Scoring a combined 10 goals in the first two games of the season last week wasn't exactly the kind of offensive production the Bears had hoped for to start the season, but there was one offensive milestone that happened during the East Coast trip. Melissa Humphrey netted her 50th career goal in the season opener at James Madison. She added her 51st career goal and second of 2013 at UMBC. Known more for her ability to rack up assists, Humphrey ranks fifth all-time at Cal in career assists with 45. Her 38 assists in 2012 ranks second on all-time on the school's single season list, and her 61 points last year ranks fifth on Cal's all-time single-season chart.

Next Time
Cal continues the four-game homestand at Memorial Stadium, welcoming Iona and Virginia Tech to Berkeley. The Bears and Iona square off on Wednesday, March 13, at 3 p.m. and against Virginia Tech on Saturday, March 16, at 4 p.m.

Blogging Bears
Head coach Ginger Miles and Cal lacrosse student-athletes Casey Reid and Marissa O'Meally are blogging this year to give their fans some behind the scenes insight on the Cal lacrosse team. Miles' blog is called "Mondays With Miles" while the player blog is called "Roll on With Ris and Reid." Stay tuned to CalBears.com for new blog entries throughout the season.

Follow the Bears on Twitter; Like the Bears on Facebook
Looking for even more Cal lacrosse news? Join the Bears in their new territory - Facebook and Twitter. By liking Cal Lacrosse on Facebook, you can see photos, discuss the latest happenings with fellow fans and much more on the social networking site. Following @CalWLacrosse on Twitter means similar inside information, status updates of the Bears as well as up-to-date scoring information.

The Paparazzi
Like any of the pictures on CalBears.com? They are available for purchase! GoldenBearSports.com, the official photographer of the Cal Athletics Department, has game photos available for purchase on their Web site at GoldenBearSports.com. You can also follow @GBSports on Twitter or Like the GoldenBearSports page on Facebook to get instant notifications when new albums and galleries are posted to the website. Visit twitter.com/gbsports to follow.