March 12, 2009

Complete Weekly Release in PDF Format

March 14	No. 7 Cal vs. No. 5 San Diego State*		Berkeley		Noon
March 14	No. 7 Cal vs. Maryland			Berkeley		4 p.m.
March 15	No. 7 Cal vs. George Washington%		Claremont, CA	10:20 a.m.
March 15	No. 7 Cal at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps%		Claremont, CA	11:40 p.m.
March 15	No. 7 Cal vs. Occidental%			Claremont, CA	2:20 p.m.

This Week in Cal Women's Water Polo
After a bevy of games in Southern California last weekend, the No. 7 California women's water polo team returns home to entertain two teams on March 14 and compete at the Convergence Tournament hosted by the Claremont colleges March 15. The Golden Bears (19-4 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will play No. 5 San Diego State (16-3, 0-1 MPSF) at noon and Maryland (6-4) at 4 p.m. at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. Cal will then travel to Claremont, Calif., to play three games at the Axelrood Pool at Claremont McKenna College in the Convergence Tournament. The Bears will play George Washington (2-8) at 10:20 a.m., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (3-5) at 11:40 a.m. and Occidental (5-3) at 2:20 p.m. For a full Convergence Tournament schedule, please visit its Website by clicking here.

Golden Bears Post 4-1 Record in Three Days of Play
Over the weekend, Cal played and won four games at the Cal Lutheran Tournament on March 6 and 8, but dropped a March 7 conference match to No. 2 UCLA, 11-5. The Bears easily handled Cal Lutheran, 17-5, and Villanova, 16-2, on March 6 in the opening rounds of the tournament. The next day, the Bears did not fare as well, losing to UCLA in Los Angeles. Cal rebounded nicely on Sunday with a 16-2 victory over Redlands and a 15-2 win against Pomona-Pitzer. Junior driver Meghan Corso scored in every game and freshman driver Lauren Barron paced the Bears with 10 goals.

Did You Know?
• The Bears added seven periods of shut-out defense last weekend to bring their season total to 32 quarters.
• Against Redlands (3/8), the Cal keepers combined for 16 saves, which tied this season's high.
• Fifteen different Bears have combined for 76 multi-goal games.
• Cal is 18-2 in tournament games this season and 18-1 when holding its opponents to less than 10 goals.
• The Bears have outscored their opponents, 300-133, this year, only allowing an average of 5.78 goals per game.

Barron Comes Up Huge for Cal
Lauren Barron scored the first 10 goals of her Golden Bear career in a dramatic fashion over the weekend for the No. 7 California women's water polo team. Barron scored four goals in Cal's 17-5 win over Cal Lutheran on March 6 in the opening round of the Cal Lutheran tournament in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Barron scored twice against Villanova to help the Bears to a 16-2 victor, also on March 6. The Commerce, Calif., native added two goals in each of Cal's two games on March 8 against Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer. Barron paced the Bears with 10 goals over the weekend.

Q&A With the Golden Bears
CalBears.com will be running question and answers with the Cal women's water polo team all season. This week's Q&A is with junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Layton. The Cal Lutheran Tournament gave California junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Layton a chance to get back in the pool after spending the first part of the 2009 season on the sidelines with an arm injury. The Newport Beach, Calif., native earned three saves in the second half in the 16-2 dismantling of Villanova on March 6 and had five saves in one quarter of work against Redlands, allowing just two goals over the weekend. CalBears.com chatted with Layton and found out a little more about her, including her team nickname. To read the Q&A with Layton, click here.

To see an archive of Q&As, click here or click on the Q&A With the Golden Bears on the Cal women's water polo sidebar.

Next Up for Cal
The Bears will spend next weekend in San Diego at the Aztec Invitational on March 21 and 22. Cal is slated to play No. 13 Hartwick at 1 p.m. and Brown (receiving votes) at 4:45 p.m., both on March 21st, and No. 19 Indiana at 8 a.m. on March 22.