by Jennifer Westhoff
I am a firm believer in Murphy’s Law, anything that can go wrong will. I was more than a little wary heading off to Florida; as I’m sure most of the coaching staff, the Rec Sports office, and well every parent whose child was on the trip was. Nightmare scenarios were running rampant through my head- what if we get put in a hotel in a seedy part of town across the street from 3 strip clubs? What if Dana Lee falls into alligator infested waters trying catch a cat fish? What is going to happen when we face East Coast teams that we know little about? Can the team over come factors that they have never had to deal with during games such as jet lag, humidity, and bugs the size of house pets? Do we really want to spend this much time and energy and possibly lose?
Well I was wrong. Only one of my fears came true, I’ll let you try to figure out which one. In my two years with this team there have been semi-successful, poor, and horrible showings on the road. However, just for the sheer fact that we didn’t leave anyone in Nashville on one of our plane stops I would call this trip a definite success.
We began our journey across rolling purple mountains majesty and the fruited plains of America with an early morning bus ride. Two planes later we ended up in the Tampa airport, special thanks to both flight crews who graciously sang “Happy Birthday” to Dylan Westhoff to honor his turning 19. Good job Dyl! I never thought you would make it! It was at the Tampa airport that we would meet the most important person to our trip in Florida, Brenda. Brenda was our no non-sense, cheer-leading, sweet tea drinking, singing, dancing, bad-ass bus driver. Whether it was driving us around traffic, to see some Gators, or church on Easter Sunday Brenda got us where we needed to go and really only broke nominal traffic laws. She was also a fountain of wonderful Floridian information, taking us through Coco Beach and pointing out the spot where the Atlantic apparently meets with the Pacific.
Saturday morning we left Tampa for Gainesville. There the team would face their first Floridian opponent- The Gators of the University of Florida. The first quarter ended with a tie, 4-4; and the first half ended with the Bears up by 1, 6-5. Then the third quarter hit. Throughout the season Cal has been plagued by single bad quarters in the middle of great games. In their game against the Gators, the third quarter was their Achilles’ heel, they just couldn’t recover from the now 7-10 deficit. The Golden Bears ultimately lost the game 9-12. But the Bears did manage to score 9 goals- David Parker had 2 and an assist (he is also the Bear’s current leading scorer); freshman Jared Brett scored twice, as did Gene Pontes. Cameron Sampson and freshman Adam “Waggles” Wagoner each had a goal and an assist. Ricky Pentella scored one, and Luke Langon had one assist for the night. Senior goalie Matt Schneider had an outstanding game with 13 saves.
Disappointed from their loss the Bears headed back to their hotel where the next morning was Easter morning. In an attempt to raise spirits the Easter Bunny hopped all the way from Berkeley to visit the Cal Men’s lacrosse team and set up quite the Easter egg hunt. The boys arrived at the bus to find jelly bean filled eggs, chocolate bunnies, Reese’s, and Hershey kisses. All of the managers would like to thank the Easter Bunny for his kindness, without your gifts the bus ride to Southern Florida would have been unbearable.
On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, when most of college students on Spring break either sleep in or eat insane amounts of ham, the Golden Bears were preparing for battle. Determined not to have a repeat showing of the previous night, the Bears ended their game against USF 20-6. What really made the difference was the number of shots on goal the team took. They boys took 19 more shots in their game against USF than they did against the Gators. The law of averages pretty much says the more shots taken the more likely you are to score, and that certainly helped out the Bears on Sunday. What was especially notable was how many guys contributed to the win- Andrew Whitney (2 goals, 3 assists); Rafi Silverblatt (3 goals, 1 assist); David Parker (3 goals, 1 assist); Justin Chen (2 goals, 1 assist), Luke Langon (2 goals, 1 assist); Mike Parker (2 goals); Gene Pontes (2 goals); Cameron Sampson (1 goal, 1 assist); Ricky Pentella (1 goal, 1 assist); Jared Brett (1 goal, 1 assist); Andrew Kilduff (2 assists); Brian McLucas (1 assist); and Stephen Saribalis (1 assist). That is 13 people who statistically added to the win, and doesn’t begin to recognize the number of defensive players who stopped drives from USF and kept their score to a mere 6 goals. The game was a huge team morale boost, and began to make the trip take an upswing.
The night after the University of South Florida game the team headed to Orlando and the amazing Suites at Old Town. Comfortably situated in Orlando the team headed off on their free day. With the expert guidance of Brenda we found ourselves at the air boat tours. Down to hunt some gators we ventured off fighting wind, cold, and fatigue to immerse ourselves in Floridian culture. Luckily no one lost a finger or nose to an alligator, though Andrew Kilduff is still missing we are hoping he just stayed behind to fulfill his calling as an alligator wrangler. Coach Dini chose not to join us on our air boat venture, instead he headed off to the Magic Kingdom alone and sporting a mustache in honor of Mustache March. If anyone is traveling to the Orlando area in the near future ignore the “Beware of…” posters sporting his picture, it was all just a misunderstanding on Pirates of the Caribbean.
Well rested and eager to play the team prepared to face Central Florida. Central Florida would be the most difficult game they would play while in Florida. The Knights were ranked and determined to win. Things were looking pretty rough after the first quarter when the Bears were down 2-5. But then something happened, whether it was divine intervention or just the right kick in the pants from the coaching staff the Golden Bears exploded back onto the field out scoring Central Florida in the second and third quarters 8-0, making the score at the end of the third quarter 10-5. Even though the Knights made a final push in the fourth, their 3 goals weren’t enough to overtake Cal. The final score was a respectable 11-8, which gave the Bears their second win on the trip and a warm fuzzy feeling down to their toes. And who was responsible for all those goals you ask?? Well… Cameron Sampson had 3 goals; David Parker racked up 2 goals and 1 assist; Gene Pontes score twice; Andrew Whitney had 1 and 1; Luke Langon assisted twice; and Connor Dibble, Ricky Pentella, and Stephen Saribalis all scored a goal. And all-star goalie Matt Schneider had 12 saves for the day. But again, I would be remiss to over look the outstanding job of the defense who over the course of the week kept their opponents to a few man-up goals, and gave 110% the whole time. And special thanks to Freshman Kevin Etter whose stellar performance as an LSM made me the winner in the manager’s fantasy lacrosse league.
The team would like to thank every one of our supporters, those who came to Florida and those back home. It really was a great trip for the program and for individuals who went. Also special thanks to Bill Wyatt from the Rec Sports office for accompanying us to Florida. The Cal Men’s Lacrosse team would be nothing without the involvement of the parents and fans of the team members. Thank you for both your moral and monetary support, it is invaluable. Don’t forget to sign up for the golf tournament on the 19th! Our next game will be against St. Mary on Saturday April 5th. See you there! And GO BEARS!!
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by Tashi MacMillen
After spending over 24 hours traveling from the west coast of the United States to China, the Cal Men’s Lacrosse arrived at Beijing Sports University (BSU) in the pre-dawn hours of June 2nd 2007. The Golden Bears woke early the next morning to start the first few games of their 18-day road trip to Japan and China. The team spent 5 days playing games and touring China before continuing on to Japan for the remainder of the trip.
China is a nation in the midst of great change, both economically and culturally. It was not uncommon to see a multi-million dollar construction project shadowing the thin canvas walls of a worker’s tent. While the poverty of many Chinese people is evident, so is their friendliness and generosity. Students at BSU constantly wanted to chat with the visiting American team and ask their opinion on all types of issues. Both the welcoming and the farewell party will not soon be forgotten by the team. The first day of the Beijing cup was exhausting and saw Cal defeating 5 different teams from China, Japan, and Korea. The second and final day of tournament pitted Cal against a well matched all-star team from Japan. The Japanese squad put up a fight but was no match for the Bears and at the closing ceremony Coach Stephen Dini was presented with the 1st place trophy. While in China the team was also able to spend a day touring the region and spent time at The Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City, and The Silk Market. After an amazing and enriching time in Beijing, the players left China and got ready for the sweltering heat of Japan in the summer.
The Japanese weather did not disappoint, as many days were in the 80s and extremely humid. The first six days in Japan were spent in Tokyo, with each team member staying with a different host family. The Japanese host families were very friendly and most of the players had the opportunity to enjoy many a home cooked meal and drink gallons of water in a steamy Tokyo apartment building. The food in Japan was also a welcome change from China, where the portion sizes weren’t quite large enough for the hungry players. In Tokyo the vast majority of the population gets around the city by subway and the team did as well. The Japanese are very quiet as they ride train and try as they might, the team stuck out just a bit. You can imagine how startled the local commuters must have been by 40 large Americans overtaking the cars with their bags and cumbersome lacrosse equipment.
While in Tokyo the team played six games in four days, enough to make any player feel exhausted at the end of each day. Each day also started before six AM; adjusting to life in Japan was not easy. The games played in Tokyo were satisfying as well as challenging for team. After starting with a great win over Keio University the team suffered defeat at the hands of the quick, run-and-gun style offenses and amazing stick skills of 3 other university teams. The biggest game in Tokyo was played at Edogawa stadium on a rainy day in front of 6,000 fans. Matched up against Cal in the muddy grass field was the U21 Japanese National Team. The game unfortunately did not go well for Cal and the Home team was able to secure a win for themselves in the first major game of the International Friendship Games. After enjoying a wonderful farewell dinner of Mexican food at the local taqueria (El Torito), the boys had a rare night to themselves and went to experience the bright lights and interesting nightlife of the Shinjuku district.
Leaving Tokyo, the team took a bullet train traveling at 200mph to the southern city of Nagoya. Once again the team members were paired with gracious host families and once again we were able to make an already small Japanese apartment feel just a bit smaller. Nagoya is a smaller and more rural city than Tokyo but still very impressive and it felt great to see a different side of Japan. In Nagoya the team saw to the Port of Nagoya Aquarium and the amazing Nagoya Castle. The Aquarium was full of sharply uniformed school children, confused tourists and also showed an amazing (and wet) Orca and Dolphin exhibition. The Nagoya Castle was indescribably beautiful. Built from 1525-1612, The Castle is a cluster of different royal buildings surrounded by a moat and full of amazing architecture, priceless artifacts, and a lush garden.
The lacrosse fields in Nagoya were not quite as nice as those in Tokyo, with quite a few games being played on dirt. One day the team played four games on a surface that can only be described as an awkward mating attempt between field hockey turf and the beach. The rug-burns from those games were enough to make grown men cry. The Bears played 8 games in Nagoya and did well, dropping just two games. The final game of the trip and the International Friendship Games was played in Toyota Stadium against the U22 Nagoya All-stars team. What started out for as a tough game for the home team ended quite disappointingly for Nagoya. The Bears out-hustled, out-played, and physically dominated their opponents. The final game of the season went great and there was smiles all around, especially for the four seniors that started their freshman year with only sixteen guys and now the team is 40 strong and growing.
Every member of the Cal Men’s Lacrosse team and the coaching staff will never forget this amazing experience. The team feels very grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to Japan and China and thanks all those who made the journey possible.
University of California Men’s Lacrosse 2007
WCLL Division A Central league title
WCLL Final Four
Champions-Beijing Cup
International Friendship Games-Tokyo and Nagoya |
March 2008