April 12, 2008

Box Score

EUGENE, Ore. - California upset No. 19/20 Oregon, 12-8, to extend its winning streak to four games on Saturday afternoon at Pape' Field. Senior attacker Brittany Aungier collected four points (3 goals, 1 assist) and sophomore midfielder Alyse Kennedy scored three goals for the Golden Bears, who top the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings with a 4-0 record. They improved their overall record to 8-5, while Oregon fell to 9-5 (1-3 MPSF).

The last time Cal won four straight was at the end of the 2004 season.

Aungier tied Oregon's Theresa Waldron (2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points) for game-high scoring honors. Junior goalkeeper Morgan Dyson tied a career high with 14 saves to claim the victory for Cal.

"It was an interesting game," Cal head coach Theresa Sherry said. "Anytime we play Oregon it's a battle. We struggled in the middle of the game, at the end of the first half and start of the second half. We fouled a lot. There were a lot of things going against us, and I'm proud of the way our girls fought back and gained possession.

"Morgan had a really good game and was an anchor for us back there. She came through for us on a few point-blank shots."

Oregon outshot Cal, 29-23, and held a 16-9 advantage in the second half.

The Ducks took their only lead with the first goal of the game, a free-position goal by Jen May at the 2:29 mark.

Cal went on to score the next three goals, on a pair of unassisted goals by junior defender Sam Price (at 7:02) and Kennedy (10:02) and then a goal by junior attacker Elizabeth "T" Jahp (13:38) assisted by junior attacker Madeleine Dale. Cal led, 3-1.

Ilsa van den Berg, on a free-position goal (18:12), and Waldron, unassisted (20:12), scored next for Oregon to tie the game at 3-3.

The Bears scored the final four goals of the half, on a pair of goals by Kennedy (20:23 and 25:23) and Aungier (22:02 and 24:50), and took a 7-3 halftime lead.

Early in the second half, the Ducks cut Cal's lead to one again, as Waldron scored (34:07) and Erin Chisnell struck twice (34:24 and 36:11) the make the score 7-6. Oregon was bolstered by its success with draw controls, as the Ducks earned the first eight draws of the second stanza and took a 9-2 advantage in draws in the second half.

But 7-6 was the closest Oregon would get, as the Bears turned up the defense and Oregon produced three turnovers to just one for Cal over the next 13 minutes. Freshman midfielder Emily Abbood (41:29), sophomore midfielder Alex Tickner (41:41), Aungier (48:07) and senior attacker Danni Zuralow (49:38) each scored a goal to give the Bears an 11-6 lead.

"Cristen Andrews and Nellie Hayes came up big for us today, doing the dirty work in midfield, helping us possess the ball," Sherry said. "T Jahp helped us control the ball on the attack. Danni played a lot of defense for us today. She really helped us control the tempo and make sure the team was on the same page.

"Brit also did a really good job in helping us to control the attack and is getting better at finishing. We didn't take a ton of shots, so it was important for us to convert on the shots we did have."

Both Kennedy and Aungier were efficient on the attack, as Kennedy scored on all three of her shots and Aungier was 3-for-4 on the day.

May (53:18) and Cara Mead (54:03) tallied for Oregon before Zuralow capped the scoring with her second goal of the day (56:54), and Cal won, 12-8.

Cal plays two games on the East Coast - at Connecticut at 3:30 p.m. PT on April 18 and at Columbia at 10 a.m. PT on April 21 - before playing Denver on April 26 for its final home game before the MPSF Championship tournament in Berkeley.

GAME SUMMARY

	         1	2	F
California	7	5	12
Oregon	         3	5	8

California Scoring
Goals: Brittany Aungier 3; Alyse Kennedy 3; Danni Zuralow 2; Alex Tickner 1; Sam Price 1; Elizabeth T Jahp 1; Emily Abbood 1. Assists: Brittany Aungier 1; Madeleine Dale 1.

Oregon Scoring
Goals: Theresa Waldron 2; Jen May 2; Erin Chisnell 2; Ilsa van den Berg 1; Cara Mead 1. Assists: Theresa Waldron 2; Lindsay Killian 1; Ilsa van den Berg 1.

Goalkeeping
California: Morgan Dyson, 14 saves, 8 GA, 60:00. Oregon: Anna Poponyak, 6 saves, 12 GA, 57:03; Hannah Jones, 0 saves, 0 GA, 2:57.

Records: California 8-5 (4-0 MPSF). Oregon 9-5 (1-3 MPSF).