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A newsletter for the neighbors of the University of California, Berkeley |
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Spring 2002 |
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| Women's lacrosse to host league championship | ||||||||||||||||||
| On March 20 Cal's women's lacrosse team faced the first of seven East Coast teams it is scheduled to play this season in a tight, down-to-the-wire game against Columbia University. Cal came away from the exciting home game with an 11-10 win. "We needed this win to prove to ourselves that we can beat an East Coast team," said head coach Jill Malko after the game. Women's lacrosse, a relatively new collegiate sport on the East Coast, is even newer in the West. Berkeley's team earned varsity status only in 1999, but in the three short seasons since it has steadily improved. This year's squad is raising the program to another level - one of national prominence in Division I lacrosse competition. As part of the drive to be competitive, the Bears have entered a new conference, the Mountain Pacific Lacrosse League, consisting of Stanford, UC Davis, Saint Mary's and Denver. In addition, they have added an extra road trip this season to play traditional lacrosse powers Richmond, Maryland-Baltimore County and Harvard. Maryland has walked away with 9 of the 19 NCAA championships held since 1982. "We've always had the athletic edge over a lot of teams that we've played and that's made up for the disparity in experience," said Malko as the season began. "But now we're closing the gap in the skill and tactical areas. We believe we can beat these East Coast teams and hopefully, we can prove this season that we will be competitive against anyone." The season so far has seen wins over UC Davis, St. Mary's, Denver, Colorado College, Columbia, Howard and George Washington for an overall 8-3 record. Cal will play Stanford April 27. On May 4 and 5 Cal will host the MPLL Championships. All games are held at Memorial Stadium. The Stanford game is free. Tickets for the championships will be sold at gate. For schedule information, visit www.calbears.com or call (510) 642-3277. |
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| Senior Sarah Wheatley is a leading scorer on the Cal women's lacrosse team. | ||||||||||||||||||
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