April 23, 2009

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. - Alyse Kennedy scored a career-high six goals to match Saint Mary's total and lead California to a 17-6 win over the Gaels in the quarterfinal round of the MPSF Tournament on Thursday at Stanford's Cagan Stadium. The Golden Bears will play Oregon in the semifinal round at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 24, at Stanford. Cal's record improved to 7-10. Saint Mary's ended its season with a 3-13 record. Cal advances to the conference tournament semifinal round to play Oregon at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 24, at Cagan Stadium.

Kennedy set Cal single-game highs this season in goals and shots (12). Her six-goal total ties her for third on the all-time single-game scoring list and the 12-shot total ties her for second on the Bears' all-time single-game list.

"Hopefully she's coming alive at the right time," Cal head coach Theresa Sherry said. "That's something she can do every single game. It was great to see her put together a pretty solid game. I'm proud of her for doing that, but we're really going to need her to step up in pressure situations later this week."

The Bears previously defeated Saint Mary's, 22-13, during the regular season.

"This game we changed things up on defense and had a more consistent effort from start to finish," Sherry said. "Everyone who played today did a good job and maintained a high level. Our team is real excited to be here and go for a championship. That's what's motivating them."

Against Saint Mary's this time, senior attacker Sam Price added one goal and four assists for the Bears, who outshot the Gaels, 43-19, including 25-10 in the first half. Freshman midfielder Allie Welsh scored the first hat trick of her collegiate career for Cal, which also got three points from junior midfielder Alex Tickner (2 goals, 1 assist).

Saint Mary's took the lead first at 1-0 when Amy Daniels scored at 4:53. That turned out to be the only lead of the game for the Gaels, as Cal outscored them, 10-4, in the first half. Price scored her goal at 5:55 to tie the game at 1-1 to spark a 5-0 Bears' run.

Price assisted on Kennedy's first goal, at 9:45, to make the score 4-1, and then Kennedy converted an eight-meter shot at 12:38 to give Cal a 5-1 lead.

After P.J. Hainley scored at 16:59 to stop the Cal run, the Bears reeled off four more goals to take a 9-1 lead. Welsh scored the last two goals of that run at 25:06 and 26:12.

Dana Elfvin and Hainley scored the last two goals of the first half for the Gaels, who trailed Cal, 10-4, at halftime.

A pair of Kennedy goals (at 36:41 and 38:25) sandwiched around a Tickner strike (37:45) gave the Bears a 13-4 advantage. Kennedy scored her final goal of the game at 50:32 to make the score 15-5.

"We have tournament fever to being with, and I think we all come out a lot harder," Kennedy said. "We're trying to win a tournament championship. That's the goal. All my teammates are absolutely amazing, and when they come out and play well, it's easy to go with the flow that they create."

Goals from sophomore midfielder Molly Everett (55:38) and Welsh (57:15) made the final score 17-6.

GAME SUMMARY

	         1	2	F
Saint Mary's	4	2	6
California	10	7	17

Saint Mary's Scoring
Goals: Hainley, P.J. 2; Elfvin, Dana 1; Daniels, Amy 1; Munroe, Juliet 1; Schwab, Maggie 1. Assists: Elfvin, Dana 1; Forster, Jessica 1.

California Scoring
Goals: Alyse Kennedy 6; Allie Welsh 3; Alex Tickner 2; Vail Horn 2; Sam Price 1; Elizabeth T Jahp 1; Molly Everett 1; Tighe Hutchins 1. Assists: Sam Price 4; Zoe Jones 1; Alex Tickner 1.

Goalkeeping
Saint Mary's: Hilary Gardner, 14 saves, 17 GA, 57:15; Whitney Campitiello, 0 saves, 0 GA, 2:45. California: Morgan Dyson, 4 saves, 4 GA, 30:00; Allie Shropshire, 4 saves, 2 GA, 30:00.

Records: Saint Mary's 3-13. California 7-10

Att.: 40.