April 5, 2005

Box Score

BERKELEY, Calif. - Sophomore Laura Cavallo scored five goals to power California to a 19-5 rout of MPSF opponent Saint Mary's on a sunny Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. The Golden Bears improve their record to 7-5 (2-1 MPSF), while the Gaels fall to 1-9 (0-4 MPSF).

"My expectations of Cavallo are obviously high, even though she's a young player," Cal head coach Jill Malko said. "But she's a constant, consistent contributor. It's remarkable. There's not a young player, I think, in this country who wants to get better and works harder than she does. Her stats back it up. And it's not just her goals. It's her attitude on the field. She's a real emotional leader and spark plug for our team."

Sophomore attacker Liz Reifsnyder scored a hat trick and added two assists for the Bears. Senior midfielder Sunne Smith likewise scored a hat trick and sophomore attacker Jocelyn Paul had one goal and three assists for Cal, which scored a season-high 19 goals. The 19 goals were the most Cal scored since a 20-10 win over Saint Mary's on May 5 of last season.

In this year's match, senior Rosy Iaccino and freshman Jen Utley led the Gaels with two goals apiece.

Tied at 1-1 early in the first half, Cal gained some breathing room by scoring the next five straight goals. The Bears' run featured two goals from freshman midfielder Danni Zuralow and a goal and an assist by Paul. The Gaels then scored two of the next three goals - Alex Oetken at 12:47 and Iaccino at 17:23 - to pull within 7-3.

But Smith scored her second goal at 18:52 and Cavallo scored her second at 25:11 to give Cal a 9-3 halftime lead. Cal took 23 shots to score its nine first-half goals.

"It was a slow start for us," said Malko, citing Cal's first-half shooting percentage of 39 percent. "But give this team credit. They really turned it around in the second half. They followed the gameplan and took care of the ball. We had 16 shots for 10 goals, and that's a huge improvement in shooting percentage [62.5 percent]."

The Bears scored the first five goals of the second half to break open the game at 14-3. Reifsnyder scored her second, assisted by freshman midfielder Cristen Andrews, just 1:01 into the half. The run also featured three goals from Cavallo and one from senior attacker Molly Brady.

Cal outscored Saint Mary's 5-2 over the 21:30 of the game. Bears defender Meghan Bushnell scored her first goal of the season on her first shot of the season to complete the scoring at 58:44.

The Bears go back on the road to play Ohio at 4 p.m. ET on Friday in Athens, Ohio, and to play Ohio State at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.

GAME SUMMARY
             1   2  F
Saint Mary's 3   2  5
California   9  10 19

Saint Mary's Scoring
Goals: Jen Utley 2, Rosy Iaccino 2, Alex Oetken 1. Assists: Dearborn David 1, Jen Utley 1.

California Scoring
Goals: Laura Cavallo 5, Liz Reifsnyder 3, Sunne Smith 3, Danni Zuralow 2, Jocelyn Paul 1, Brittany Aungier 1, Molly Brady 1, Willa Lee 1, Erin Hafkenschiel 1, Meghan Bushnell 1. Assists: Jocelyn Paul 3, Liz Reifsnyder 2, Leanne Zilioli 2, Cristen Andrews 1, Brittany Aungier 1, Molly Brady 1.

Goalkeeping
Saint Mary's: Katie Augustine, 14 saves, 19 GA, 60:00. California: Hilary Lynch, 7 saves, 5 GA, 60:00.

Records: Saint Mary's 1-9 (0-4 MPSF). California 7-5 (2-1 MPSF).