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Five individuals representing the Berkeley High girls lacrosse team literally put the icing on the 2000 season on Saturday, taking part in the annual league all-star game – an event so informal that it degenerated into a cupcake fight after the final horn sounded.  

The battle of baked goods highlighted an afternoon of friendly competition on the BHS football field, on which the top players from each league team were mixed up into two squads – blue and orange. Berkeley junior Jamie Lee and senior Dani Ganes competed for the blue squad, while seniors Naomi Coffman, Catherine Etzel and Rory Satran helped team orange to an offense-fueled 17-11 victory. BHS coach Lia Farley coached the orange squad.  

“I thought it was good to play with people from our league, and have more fun with it,” Etzel said about the traditionally relaxed approach to the all-star game. “The level of play was really high, it’s nice to see how much high school lacrosse is improving. The level of play in California lacrosse is really stepping up.” 

“You basically just go out there to have a lot of fun,” Ganes said, while attempting to wash cupcake icing from her skin and clothes. “It worked out fine – it’s a fun way to end the season.” 

All three of Berkeley High’s offensive players netted at least one goal on Saturday, with Ganes netting four of the blue team’s 11 goals in the losing effort. After the game, the coaches announced this year’s all-league selections – chosen by a vote of each head coach in league. Three of the Yellowjackets’ five all-stars would garner such honors, with Lee, Ganes and Etzel earning spots on the all-league attack, midfield and defense, respectively. 

“(They’ve been) very crucial to the team,” said Farley about her all-leaguers, also referring to Coffman, who made all-league last year, and Satran. “The past few years have been big building years for women’s lacrosse. They’ve been pioneers.” 

Though 2000 leading scorer Lee will be back as a senior for the 2001 campaign, Ganes, Coffman, Etzel and Satran are all slated to graduate, along with four other seniors: Alana Perley, Caroline Fletcher, Ellie Smith and Claire Williams. Since the eight-player exodus effectively guts the 2000 starting roster, Farley looks at next season as a chance to reload with junior varsity talent. 

“It’s a rebuilding year next year. There are a lot of (promising) players on the JV team,” the coach said. 

“Because the JV program was so big (this year), I think there’ll be some good players stepping up,” agreed Etzel, who will play lacrosse at Columbia University next fall. “There wasn’t even a JV program in my first year.”