March 9, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
BERKELEY, CALIF. -
Sat., March 13 at San Diego State, Aztec Aquaplex, San Diego, Calif. 10:30 a.m.
Sat.-Sun. March 13-14 at Aztec Tournament, Aztec Aquaplex, San Diego, Calif. All Day
Bear Bites:
The No. 3-ranked Cal women's water polo team (14-5, 2-2) travels to San Diego this weekend to face No. 14 San Diego State (10-7, 0-2) and to participate in the Aztec Invitational. Before the tournament begins, the Golden Bears will face host San Diegeo State in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matchup on Saturday (March 13) at 10:30 a.m. The Aztecs are coming off two straight losses last weekend against No. 2 Stanford (11-2) and No. 7 San Jose State (7-5). Cal will then compete in the Aztec Invitational, which is its fifth tournament of the season. On Saturday afternoon, the Bears will open their tournament schedule with a game against No. 18 Princeton (4:45 p.m.). On Sunday, Cal has matches against Marist (9:15 a.m.) and Maryland (3:30 p.m.). Along with its 2-2 league mark, the Bears have performed well in tournaments in 2010 (12-3); winning all five matches during the NorCal Invitational in Berkeley and making it to the finals of the Stanford Invitational, where it fell to then-No. 1-ranked Stanford, 10-7. At the UC Irvine Invitational, Cal topped UC Davis (13-5) and No. 6 Hawaii (8-4) in day one, before falling to the Trojans (10-5) in the semifinals and being tipped by No. 3 UCLA, 7-6, in six sudden death overtime periods. The Bears' loss to the Bruins is believed to be the longest match in NCAA women's water polo history. Last weekend at the Cal Lutheran Invitational, Cal won both of its matches against Occidental (16-4) and California Baptist (12-4). They concluded their weekend with a 7-4 loss against USC in a conference matchup.
Noting San Diego State and the Aztec Invitational:
San Diego State, winless in MPSF league play entering this weekend, is coached by Carin Crawford and led by freshman Amber Pezzolla with 29 goals in 17 matches. Pezzolla is the top scoring freshman in the MPSF. The Bears lead the all-time series 23-9 and defeated the Aztecs, 13-11, last season in Berkeley. Following the match against San Diego State, Cal will play Princeton, Marist, and Maryland at the Aztec Invitational. The Bears have not played Princeton since 2006, when they defeated the Tigers, 13-4, in Berkeley. Cal leads the all-time series against Princeton 4-0. Sunday, will be Cal's first ever matchup with Marist. Against Maryland, the Bears won the only meeting last season, 9-6, at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
Cal Notes:
The Bears feature sophomore standout Emily Csikos, who was the Feb. 8 MPSF Player of the Week after scoring 15 goals during the Stanford Invitational. Csikos leads Cal with 49 goals in 19 matches and is first in the MPSF with 2.58 goals per game (next closest is Lynlee Smith from ASU, 1.81 GPG). So far this year, the Bears have outscored their opponents, 207-104, and are fourth in the MPSF with 10.89 goals per game. Defense has been a key for Cal as it is third in the conference in team defense, allowing 5.47 goals per game. Head coach Richard Corso's squad is led by five returning All-Americans, seniors Meghan Corso (150 career goals, fifth on the school's all-time list) and Camille Hewko (third-team), plus honorable mention All-America picks Csikos, senior Stephanie Schnugg and sophomore goalie Stephanie Peckham. Csikos paced the Bears with 15 goals during the Stanford Invite after leading Cal with 11 goals during the NorCal Invite. She has now led the Bears in scoring in 13 of the team's 19 matches. Csikos, from Calgary, Alberta, was outstanding this past summer at the FINA World Championships in Rome, scoring 15 goals in seven matches. She battled former Cal standouts and USA Olympians Elsie Windes and Heather Petri in the finals of the World Championships (Team USA won 7-6), helping Canada to it first FINA final since 1991. Last season, Csikos was second on the team with 65 goals and was MPSF All-Freshman. Sophomore goalie Peckham has also been a key to Cal's success this season, recording 174 saves in 19 matchs, fourth in the MPSF with 9.16 saves per game, including 19 saves in the overtime loss to UCLA. Last year she notched 305 saves, establishing a new school record for single-season saves. Corso led the Bears with 66 goals in 2009, while Hewko was third with 54 goals and was second-team All-MPSF and MPSF All-Tournament. Schnugg tallied 26 goals in 2009 and was honorable mention All-MPSF.
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 fifth year (93-44, .679) 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), 10 All-Americans and nine MPSF All-League selections. In 2009, he led the Bears to their most single-season wins (31) in school history, while Cal's five All-Americans tied for the most All-America selections in a single year.
Photo Opportunity::
Fans and can purchase Cal women's water polo photos at GoldenBearSports.com, the official photographer of Cal Athletics. Follow @GBSports on Twitter to get instant notifications when new albums and galleries are posted to the website. Visit www.twitter.com/gbsports to follow.
