On Sunday, April 26, 2026, Cal Men’s Lacrosse defeated UC Santa Barbara to win the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League for the first time since 2019. For 3.5 quarters, they played with a dominant performance, building an eight-goal lead in the 4th quarter, before UC Santa Barbara mounted a late run to close the gap to 17–15. It followed an earlier win over Cal Poly.
The team entered the tournament seeking redemption against two opponents that had each beaten them by one goal earlier in the season. The team overcame those setbacks and secured the win. Anyone who watched could see that this group is playing its best lacrosse at exactly the right time of year.
According to a Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association Nationals article, a large part of this success can be attributed to the stunning faceoff performance of Hale Brown. Brown dominated both games, winning over 40 faceoffs, including over 90% against Cal Poly. This helped consistently give the Bears possession. Brown was named MVP of the Tournament and MCLA Division I Warrior Player of the Week.
The article quotes Cal head coach Ned Webster: “Hale did an awesome job winning clamps and possessions, handling a ton of on-ball pressure, holds, double-teams, shut-offs – you name it. With our offense scoring 17 both days, that’s a lot of extra work for Hale, and he kept battling and grinding and putting the team on his back. Super proud of Hale’s effort, leadership and professionalism.”
The team now moves on to Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association Nationals in Richmond, beginning May 4. Riding an eight-game win streak, the Bears (12–4) earned the No. 12 seed in the tournament and will face No. 5 Tennessee (13–4) in the opening round. Join the no-host party in San Francisco or watch the games streamed online, and cheer on the team via social media.