Jan. 31, 2012

1-31-12 Cal women's water polo release

BERKELEY -

Thur. Feb. 2 Hawaii, Spieker Aquatics Complex, Berkeley 4:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Feb. 4-5 at Stanford Invitational, Avery Stadium (Baker Pool), Stanford All Day

Bear Bites In the toughest competition of the season, the No. 2-ranked Cal women's water polo team (8-0) hosts No. 10 Hawaii (0-0) Thursday (Feb. 2, 4:30 p.m.) in its opening MPSF match before entering the eight-team Stanford Invitational, Feb. 4-5 at Avery Stadium. The Golden Bears will be competing in four matches in two days for the third weekend in a row and has a chance of facing No. 1-ranked Stanford Sunday. Cal plays No. 13 Michigan (10:50 a.m.) and No. 4 UCLA (6:30 p.m.) Saturday before again battling Hawaii Sunday at 8 a.m. If the Bears win their first three matches of the tournament they would likely face the top-ranked Cardinal in the championship match 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Last weekend at the Cal Speedo Invitational, Cal outscored its opponents, 64-19, with 17 different players scoring. Junior left-hander Breda Vosters leads the Bears in scoring with 10 goals in six matches, while senior Elizabeth McLaren and freshman Chris Baker have nine goals in eight matches. Freshman Tiera Schroeder was named the Jan. 23 KAP 7 MPSF Newcomer of the Week after three goals in her first collegiate matches at the Spartan Invitational.

About Hawaii and the Stanford Invitational Hawaii opens its season at Cal, features first-year coach Maureen Cole Flanigan and top returning scorer junior Amarens Genee (32 goals), from a 18-9 (4-3 MPSF) squad in 2011. The Bears have a 25-8 all-time record against the Rainbow Wahines, going 1-1 last season with a 6-5 loss at the UCI Invitational and a 7-6 win in an MPSF match in Honolulu. The Stanford Invitational features eight teams, including the top five teams in the Collegiate Top 20 Poll. The invitational consists of No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Cal, No. 3 USC, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 San Jose State, No. 10 Hawaii, No. 13 Michigan and No. 15 UC Davis. The tournament schedule and results can be viewed by clicking on the following link (2012 Stanford Invitational). Last season the Bears had a 2-2 record (fifth) at the Stanford Invitational, topping San Jose State (14-10) and Arizona State (12-8), but falling to Stanford (10-5) and UCLA (10-8) in the third place match.

Cal Notes After an impressive 2011 campaign in which the Bears finished 26-5, won the MPSF Tournament and finished as the national runners-up, Cal is No. 2 in the CWPA Poll. Richard Corso was named the 2011 MPSF Coach of the Year, leading Cal to the 2011 MPSF Tournament title with a 7-6 win over UCLA. The Bears vied for the program's first NCAA championship May 13-15 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Cal advanced to the finals by defeating UC San Diego (13-5) and UCLA (7-4) in the semifinals, before falling to Stanford, 9-5, in the title match. Dana Ochsner (Oceanside Calif.), was fourth on the squad in scoring with 36 goals in 31 matches and earned second-team All-America and second-team All-MPSF. She scored three goals in the 2011 postseason. Vosters (Winnipeg, Canada) was the Bears' leading scorer in 2011 with 63 goals in 31 matches, including seven goals in the MPSF Tournament and a goal against Stanford in the NCAA title match. She was a third-team All-American and MPSF second team. Ashley Young (Coronado, Calif.) was Cal's second leading scorer as a freshman with 41 goals in 31 matches, including eight goals in the postseason (four in the MPSF Tourney, four in the NCAAs). She was an honorable mention All-American and on the 2011 MPSF All-Newcomer Team. Kelly Mendoza (Alamo, Calif.) was on the 2011 MPSF All-Newcomer Team as well with 27 goals in 31 contests. She is the daughter of water polo legend, Maureen O'Toole-Purcell. McLaren (Cronulla Beach, Australia) was third with 37 goals in 31 matches and had six goals in the MPSF Tourney and four goals in the NCAAs.

Head Coach Richard Corso The 1996 head coach of the United States men's Olympic water polo team and one of the most respected coaches in the game, Richard Corso is in his seventh year (139-53, .724) leading the Golden Bears' women's water polo team. In his tenure at Cal, Corso has helped mentor a member of the 2008 USA Olympic Women's Water Polo Team (Elsie Windes), 20 All-Americans and 20 MPSF All-League selections. In 2011, he was named MPSF Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to the MPSF Tournament title and a national runner-up finish. In 2010, Corso led the Bears to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and a third-place national finish. In 2009, he led Cal to its most single-season wins (31) in school history, while the Bears' five All-Americans in 2009, 2010 and 2011 tied for the most All-America selections in a single year.