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

If there was any game that the Bears needed to step up and prove to themselves and their fans that they can play and win, it was this past Saturday against Stanford. And they not only proved it they seared it into the bark of that ridiculous Stanford tree. The first quarter gave a moment for pause when it ended with Cal trailing 1-0. The thoughts streaming through everyone’s mind- would they continue their losing streak and end one of the most emotionally draining seasons on record? Would the stat girl have to write another article about dashed hopes and unrealized dreams? Ok maybe not everyone’s mind, could have just been my own, but there was definitely some apprehension felt by all as the second quarter began. But oh the brilliance of the Golden Bears! Andrew Whitney ‘09 busted out Cal’s first goal of the game off of a huge clear and assist from senior defenseman Scott Kelly ’07. The rest of the half belonged to the Bears- scoring 3 more before the break. 2 of the goals came from junior Cameron Sampson with one assist from Andrew Whitney; the other was from Zach Todaro ’08 also off of an assist from Andrew. The Bears ended the half still trailing by 1 at 5-4.

Coming into the second half of the game it was clear that this was not the same team from spring break. Momentum was obviously in Cal’s favor as the team took advantage of man ups, and ran their plays skillfully. The third quarter ended with the teams tied 7-7. David Parker ’09 scored the first two goals of the half, one of which was off an assist from Andrew Whitney; and Ricky Pentella ’09 scored the third goal of the quarter to tie the game.

Once the fourth quarter started it was obvious that Stanford didn’t have a chance. The Bear’s proficient defense and all-star goalie Matt Schneider kept the Cardinal scoreless for the last 20 minutes of the game. While the Bears put two more on the board- the first Ramsey Nabahani ’07 off of an assist from Andrew Whitney, and the second Andrew Whitney with the assist from Cameron Sampson- ending the game in 9-7.

What was so noteworthy about this game wasn’t just that Cal beat their longtime rival to clinch the WCLL Division A Central league title for the first time in 7 years- what stood out didn’t necessarily make it into the stats, but was seen by everyone in attendance. The Bears came to play, came to win, and had fun doing it. There were multiple fast breaks by the attack, and the defense forced more turnovers in this one game then in the last 4. There were also many notable individual performances- defenseman Tyler Fleetham ’08 picked up 6 ground balls; freshman attack-man Stephen Saribalis started; David Parker managed to be triple teamed and still kept possession with some skillful pirouettes; Andrew Whitney scored or assisted on 2/3rds of Cal’s goals; goalie Matt Schneider had 14 saves with a save percentage of almost 50%; and face-off specialist Albert Wu won 14 face-off draws, 10 groundballs, was awarded the game ball, and won a seat as an ASUC senator.

No one could have imagined a better end to regular season play. And it can be attributed 100% to the team’s determination. They found their mojo, and hopefully it will carry over into their play-off games in the coming weeks. The first of which is against Chico State (2nd in the Northern Division) this coming Saturday at 5PM at Maxwell, a game that will determine whether the Bears end their season or keep fighting for Dallas. Congratulations Bears and good luck! GO BEARS!

Any athlete will tell you, winning games on the road is one of the toughest things to do. You’re staying in a hotel, you don’t know the area, your only fans are a few lone parents, and all the other team wants to do is kick your butt in front of their friends. This past weekend the Bears overcame all of that on the road in Oregon winning 2 of their 3 games.

After a hard fought game against University of Oregon, Cal fell to the Ducks 6-14. Except for one bad quarter where it seemed the Bears had regressed to the beginning of fall ball, the game was very close and hard fought. Notably there was some impressive defense from Shane Barclay ’09 and Richard Tsang ’07, and a solid showing by offensive rookies Steven Saribalis ’10 and Justin Fung ‘10.

The Golden Bears rebounded well from the loss and up against Oregon State University in fighting form. Cal clawed their way through the game, and though it wasn’t pretty at times, emerged from double over time victorious; beating the Beavers 10-9. It was quite a nail biter with the Bears scoring at the last second to tie it up after being 1 behind since the second quarter. The star of this game really ended up being Andrew Whitney ’09 who scored 3 goals and earned 3 assists for the night.

Fired up after their win from the night before Cal went into their final game of the series against Texas State confident, and deservedly so. The Bears never relinquished the lead throughout entire game, and ended with a score of 12-6. The game started with a quick goal by rookie Luke Langon ’10 and from then on the momentum stayed with the bears. Adding to the excitement were goals by Tommy Chu ’08, Brian McLucas ’08, and an assist by Sergio Martinez ’07.

Overall the weekend was a wildly successful one. Coach Dini seemed to discover some hidden talent from the bench, and the tried and true players were at the top of their game. In total for the tournament the Golden Bears scored 28 goals over the 3 games; and Goalie Matt Schneider ‘08 totaled 62 saves. Individually the stats for the weekend are just as impressive: Andrew Whitney ’09 scored 3 goals and had 5 assists; David Parker ’09 had 10 goals and 2 assists; Cameron Sampson ’09 tallied up 4 goals and 2 assists; Senior Ramsey Nabahani ended with 3 goals; Gene Pontes ’08 scored 3 goals and had 1 assist; Ricky Pentella ’09 had 2 goals; Tommy Chu ’08 had 1 goal and 2 assists; Brian McLucas ’08 and Luke Langon ’10 each had 1 goal; Zach Todaro ’08 had 3 assists; and Connor Dibble ’09, Tommy Mangold ’08, and Sergio Martinez ’07 each had an assist.