California Daily Diary: Women keep up the winning streak

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Throughout the England Senior Women’s California Tour, members of the squad will be giving regular updates from inside the camp to supporters back home.

Wednesday began with a morning of training at Stanford. This was a great chance to check out the venue for the Spring Premiere and to put in some extra practice ahead of a busy second half of the week.

A well-received afternoon off gave players a chance to take some down time. This included a trip into San Francisco to have an explore, a spot of shopping and some great Buffalo Chicken Wings to refuel ready for another big day.

Gameday #3 v UCal, Berkeley - W - 12-6

We couldn’t have hoped for a more impressive setting to play our third match than at Cal Berkeley. The sun was shining over the 80,000 seater stadium which set a positive team vibe.

After a very focused warm up, England came out with a bang. With the team looking sharp, we took a quick 4-1 lead in the first quarter.

The midfield passing was looking seamless and following some good ball movement and patience in attack we made the most of playing under the FIL rules that we are now so used to.  The dominance continued, finishing the half 8-2 up.

A noticeably strong performance from Emily Gray featured 3 draw controls and a beautifully executed goal. The first half also saw some power and finesse stick skills from Olivia Hompe resulting in some impressive goals. 

Moving into the second half, we switched to playing the current NCAA rules of our hosts.

Despite this change up, we maintained our lead getting some great team turnovers in the midfield.  The team resilience ran high as the sun set over the golden seats of Memorial Stadium. 

The team fitness shone through and a great fight to the very last minute left the team buzzing on a high. The final score was 12-6 and then some fun scrimmage at the end topped off a great day.

England Points: Olivia Hompe (5,1), Jenny Simpson (2,2), Alex Drewe (1,0), Claire Faram (1,0), Emily Gray (1,0), Camilla Hayes (1,0), Ela Hazar (1,0)

National Team Director Phil Collier also spoke to Lax Sports Network about England Lacrosse, the California Tour and this weekend’s Spring Premiere. Watch below: