Oct. 27, 2007

Box Score

BERKELEY - Senior forward Jennifer Crane scored in the 51st minute to power California to a 1-0 upset of No. 4 Michigan on Saturday afternoon at Maxwell Family Field. Crane, Cal's leading scorer who registered a career-high ninth goal of the season today, took a pass from junior midfielder Andrea Lo to score off a difficult angle against the Wolverines. The Golden Bears, who claimed their first victory over a top 10 team this season, improved their record to 10-5, while Michigan fell to 13-5.

The victory marks Cal's first over a top 10 opponent this season and gives the Bears a 3-4 record against nationally ranked teams in 2007.

"It's enormous, because I wanted them to have the experience of beating a top five team," Cal head coach Shellie Onstead said. "It's ironic, because we played better against Wake Forest and ended up losing, which I think was really hard for them to deal with. Today we did not play at that level, but we did enough, and that's valuable in and of itself. We can say we got over on a top team. That's going to be big the next few weeks."

Bears junior goalkeeper Kelly Knoche made 12 saves and notched her first shutout as a Bear, as Michigan outshot Cal, 19-9. This is the second time Knoche has come up big against a top five team, as she made 14 saves against No. 3 Wake Forest in a 4-3 loss on Oct. 12 in Berkeley.

Cal recorded the first four shots of the game, with junior defender Christina McGrath and sophomore forward Kellie York forcing Michigan goalkeeper Paige Pickett to make two saves in the first seven minutes.

The Wolverines tallied their first shot in the 19th minute, when forward Kelly Fitzpatrick collected the first of a game-high five shots and forced Knoche into her first save. Michigan subsequently picked up the pace and eventually outshot Cal, 5-4, by halftime.

Pickett made her third and final save of the game on a shot by Cal freshman forward Natalie Nurnberg as time expired in the first half. The teams were tied, 0-0, at the break.

Michigan outshot Cal 7-1 in the first few minutes of the second half before Crane scored on the Bears' second shot of the half. Crane, Cal's leading scorer entering the match, now paces the Bears with 22 points from a team-high nine goals and also four assists.

"Jenny's been remarkably consistent," Onstead said, "and thank God for that, because we've had some inconsistencies from some of our other players. She's still toeing the line. In a sense that happens for seniors, but I just think she's kind of carried the team on her back and that's great to see."

Knoche made her last save in off a Kristen Tiner shot in the 68th minute. The Wolverines had two more shots, with both going wide, in the final minutes.

Unless Cal hosts a Nov. 6 NCAA play-in game, the Bears will end the home portion of their schedule with their next game, a 3 p.m. match on Tuesday, Oct. 30, against NorPac Conference opponent Longwood at Maxwell Family Field. If Cal wins that game, the Bears would end the season with a 5-1 conference record and subsequently clinch the top seed and first-round bye in the upcoming NorPac Championship Nov. 1-3 in Stanford, Calif. If Cal wins the conference tournament, it would host the Nov. 6 NCAA play-in game.

GAME SUMMARY

Goal Summary

Cal - Jennifer Crane (Andrea Lo) 50:08

Goals by Period

	         1	2	F

Michigan 0 0 0 California 0 1 1 Shots by Period 1 2 F Michigan 5 14 19 California 5 4 9 Penalty Corners by Period 1 2 F Michigan 2 4 6 California 4 1 5

Green Cards
Cal - Carolina Bistue (60:09). Michigan - none.

Att.: 169.