Feb. 17, 2008

Box Score

BERKELEY - Danni Zuralow scored four goals and Morgan Dyson made 13 saves in California's season opener, but the Golden Bears (0-1) lost, 16-9, to No. 1 Northwestern (1-0) on Sunday at Memorial Stadium. Zuralow also dished out two assists to tie Northwestern's Hilary Bowen (6 goals) for game-high scoring honors with a career-high six points.

Cal's only lead of the day against the three-time defending NCAA champions was at 3-2 at the 10:10 mark of the first half.

The game marked the debut of Cal's new coaching staff, led by head coach Theresa Sherry, whose Bears are now 0-5 in the all-time series with the Wildcats.

"We had a lot of great moments; that's what we're proud of," Sherry said. "What I think we're proudest of is the intensity we brought for the entirety of the game. What we have to work on now is following up these great plays that we make with another great play instead of a turnover or some sort of mistake in the midfield. But it's a good start. It leaves them hungry for the rest of the season. With some of those moments today, that showed them what they're capable of."

Dyson, in her first career start as a Bear, put up a career-high saves total to keep Cal in the game, despite Northwestern outshooting the Bears, 35-19.

"She was just as we expected," Sherry said. "She had a strong presence in the cage and I'm really proud of the way she played, especially of the way she came up big when our defense was tired.

"Danni stepped up when we needed goals; that's huge. Our freshmen gave us a boost here and there, with Chapin Jackson, Nellie Hayes and Emily Abbood coming up with big ground balls, helping to support on the attack and just giving us another set of legs. All around our defense played solidly."

After goals by Hilary Bowen and Casey Donohoe gave Northwestern a 2-0 lead at 2:19, senior midfielder Cristen Andrews and junior attacker Madeleine Dale scored unassisted goals for the Bears at 4:37 and 8:04, respectively. Zuralow, a senior attacker, soon collected her first goal of the game on a free-position shot to give Cal its 3-2 lead.

The Wildcats outscored Cal, 6-1, the rest of the half to take an 8-4 lead into the break. Bowen and Danielle Spencer each scored twice and Ali Jacobs and Donohoe each scored once during that span for Northwestern. Donohoe nabbed her second goal of the half at 29:44 to give NU its halftime lead.

Northwestern scored four of the first five goals of the second half to claim a 12-5 lead at 40:44; Cal's lone strike during that run, Zuralow's second overall, came at 34:30.

The Bears then outscored NU 4-2 - Cal senior attacker Brittany Aungier set up junior Sam Price at 41:11, Zuralow assisted on freshman Nellie Hayes' goal at 44:19 and Zuralow scored at 46:52 and 47:50 - to climb within five goals of Northwestern at 14-9.

But Bowen and Spencer tallied the game's final two goals for the 16-9 Wildcats' victory.

Cal returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 23, when it opens conference play against MPSF rival Stanford at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

GAME SUMMARY
	         1	2	F

Northwestern	8	8	16

California	4	5	9

Northwestern Scoring
Goals: Hilary Bowen 6, Danielle Spencer 3, Casey Donohoe 2, Ali Jacobs 2, Hannah Nielsen 1, Katrina Dowd 1, Christy Finch 1. Assists: Hannah Nielsen 2.

California Scoring
Goals: Danni Zuralow 4, Sam Price 2, Madeleine Dale 1, Cristen Andrews 1, Nellie Hayes 1. Assists: Danni Zuralow 2, Brittany Aungier 1.

Goalkeeping
Northwestern: Morgan Lathrop, 7 saves, 9 GA, 60:00. California: Morgan Dyson, 13 saves, 16 GA, 60:00.

Records: Northwestern 1-0. California 0-1.