Sept. 27, 2008

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Ashley Glosz and Natalie Nurnberg scored to give No. 20 California a 2-1 first-half lead over No. 10 Michigan State on Saturday at Ralph Young Field, but the host Spartans scored in the second half to send the game to overtime, and Michigan State scored in the 80th minute to claim its "sudden victory." The non-conference loss snapped the Golden Bears' five-game winning streak and dropped their record to 6-2. The Spartans, who have won six straight, improved to 9-1.

Cal senior goalkeeper Kelly Knoche made six saves in 79 minutes.

"We played well enough to beat the No. 10 team today but fell a little short," Cal head coach Shellie Onstead said. "We played well in the first half. In the second half, we didn't have the same intensity. I thought we could use our fitness as a tool, but we didn't do that.

"They're a very good team. It's typical of their ranking. Five through 15 in the rankings is very, very close. They've got skilled players and take good corners. Their goalie made a save that was 'Wow.' At one point I thought we won the game, on a backhand on a breakaway by Kellie York. It was really well done, something we had been working on. We were jumping up and down on the sideline, and then we saw their goalie got a stick on it."

Today marked Cal's third-straight game against a nationally ranked opponent, third-straight game that went into overtime and third-straight 3-2 result. The Bears had won the previous two 3-2 games: a Sept. 13 win over then-No. 19 Albany on penalty strokes and a Sept. 25 victory over current No. 19 Michigan.

"In the first one, to me, we let them back in," Onstead said. "We need to learn how to finish things off. This one was more balanced. It was a pretty even game, and we had a chance to win it even down to the end. We did what we came here to do, which was to learn where we were. We passed the test. We're at 80 percent of where we need to be."

Glosz, a senior midfielder/forward, gave the Bears a 1-0 lead in the third minute after a Cal penalty corner. Senior defender Carolina Bistue intentionally shot to the left side of the Michigan State goal, and Glosz stuck the ball past Spartans goalie Elissa Unger for her team-high fifth goal of the season.

Michigan State tied the game at 1-1 in the 16th minute. Midfielder Jeamie Deacon took a shot from outside the circle that midfielder Floor Rijpma tipped past Knoche.

Cal responded less than six minutes later, as Nurnberg, a sophomore forward, scored her third goal of the year off an assist from freshman defender Erin Magill to give the Bears a 2-1 lead in the 22nd minute. Cal took that lead into halftime, when it also had a 5-4 lead in penalty corners and tied MSU, 8-8, on shots.

"Nat's goal was on a free hit coming into the circle," Onstead said. "She's been working on those kinds of plays, so that's pretty cool. We answered their goal within the next 10 minutes, which was nice."

Michigan State, which outshot Cal, 7-3, in the second half, tied the game at 2-2 when Deacon scored off a penalty corner in the 49th minute. Chantae Miller, who took the corner, and Gwen Riley assisted on the goal.

The Bears had a chance to win late in the game, but a Michigan State defender blocked Bistue's shot in the 68th minute.

Cal did not record a shot in overtime, though MSU notched two shots and three penalty corners in extra time. During a goalmouth scramble, Deacon assisted Miller for the winning goal in the 80th minute.

Cal concludes its Midwest road trip with a non-conference game against Northwestern at a neutral site - Michigan's Phyllis Ocker Field in Ann Arbor, Mich. - at 10 a.m. PT on Sunday.

GAME SUMMARY

Goal Summary

Cal - Ashley Glosz (Carolina Bistue) 2:22
Michigan State - Floor Rijpma (Jeamie Deacon) 15:38
Cal - Natalie Nurnberg (Erin Magill) 21:04
Michigan State - Jeamie Deacon (Gwen Riley, Chantae Miller) 48:19
Michigan State - Chantae Miller (Jeamie Deacon) 79:06

Goals by Period
	       1  2 OT F
California      2  0  0 2
Michigan State  1  1  1 3

Shots by Period
	       1  2 OT F
California      8  3  0 11
Michigan State  8  7  2 17

Saves by Period
	       1  2 OT F
California      4  2  0 6
Michigan State  3  1  0 4

Penalty Corners by Period
	       1  2 OT  F
California      5  2  0  7
Michigan State  4  6  3  13

Att.: 261.