Oct. 2, 2010
Final Stats
MORAGA, Calif. - The No. 16 California women's soccer team, led by freshman Emi Lawson, built a 2-0 lead before Saint Mary's came storming back with two goals of its own to force overtime. After 110 minutes of play at Saint Mary's Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the Golden Bears (5-1-4) and Gaels (6-3-3) ended in a 2-2 draw.
"We played well today for long spells but lost forcus on the details once we were up, 2-0," Cal head coach Neil McGuire said. "We need to tidy up our defense on set pieces. Much credit goes to Saint Mary's for battling hard and earning a tie."
Lawson scored in the 17th and 29th minutes to give Cal its 2-0 first-half lead. A penalty kick gave Saint Mary's its first goal in the 76th and Ashley Soro added another in the 84th, forcing overtime. After a shot drought in the first overtime period, both teams had two shots in the second, but neither scored.
The Bears outshot the Gaels, 17-15, forcing SMC keeper Sarah Peters to make six stops. Megan Jesolva paced the Bears with four shots while Betsy Hassett and Kaitlyn Fitpatrick both had three. Lauren Hein played the full match between the posts, making three saves.
The game was Cal's second consecutive against a West Coast Conference team with the Bears going 0-1-1 against its WCC counterparts. Saturday's game, the sole match of the weekend for the Bears, marks the final nonconference test in what has already been a challenging and successful 2010 campaign.
After the Bears opened the season with a nine-game homestand, the short trip to Moraga, Calif., was the first road game for the Bears. Cal still holds the all-time lead at 14-8-4 and snapped the Gaels' six-game winning streak that they brought into the game.
The first action of the game came at 7:28 with a Cal corner kick taken by Emily Shibata. The Bears fired off the first three shots of the game - Megan Jesolva (wide, 11:58), Rachel Mercik (saved by SMC keeper Sarah Peters, 14:32) and Emi Lawson.
Lawson's was lucky number three for Cal's first score of the game. Katrin Omarsdottir passed Lawson the ball and the freshman shot it from 12 yards out to the near post.
Saint Mary's got its first shot on goal in the 19th minute but sophomore goalie Lauren Hein was there to make the stop.
From 24:17-26:18, the Gaels had one corner kick and two shots, both of which went wide. Jesolva tallied another shot with Peters again making the save and shortly thereafter, the Bears were offside.
In the last second of the 29th minute, Lawson shot again and notched her third goal of the season. With Lauren Battung dishing Lawson the ball, she chipped it over the keep from 25 yards.
The Bears came out firing in the second half, taking four shots - two from Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick, one from Betsy Hassett and another from Omarsdottir - forcing Peters to save three.
Saint Mary's earned a penalty kick in the 76th minute and Caroline Shevlin converted for her first score of the season.
At 84:27, Soro shot the ball from 30 yards to the far post, knotting the game at 2-2. Caroline Shevlin came in with that assist.
The Bears have some time off until the Bears finally begin Pac-10 play next weekend. UCLA is up first for the Bears on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in Los Angeles. The Bruins hold the all-time series with their big sister Golden Bears at 12-4-0, winning the past five. Cal's trip to the City of Angels closes Sunday, Oct. 10 with a 1 p.m. tilt with USC. The Trojans have earned Ws in the past three contests to improve their record with Cal to 9-5-1.
