Aug. 22, 2010
Final Stats
BERKELEY - In a testament to the adage of "there are no easy games," the No. 14 California women's soccer team and UC Irvine played to the maximum level for 110 minutes only to end in a 2-2 tie on Sunday afternoon at Edwards Stadium. The Golden Bears (1-0-1) took a 2-1 lead in the first half before the Anteaters (1-0-1) scored in the 89th minute to force overtime, in which neither team scored.
"There is no question that UC Irvine deserves tremendous credit," Cal head coach Neil McGuire said. "They battled hard. They took us out of our rhythm. It was very difficult for us to play any high-tempo soccer because they took us out of our rhythm with their pressure. We're disappointed with the score and the result, but we're certainly not disappointed with our team's effort. I thought we tried valiantly to try and get the win."
Irvine's second game-tying goal game at 88:14 when Courtney Goodson took a direct free kick and bent the ball around the Cal wall to knot the game, 2-2. Goodson's shot on goal was the final play of regulation and the two teams took a brief break before overtime.
The Bears registered two shots in the first overtime period and three in the second compared to Irvine's two, both of which came in the second, but neither team found the back of the net. Both the Bears and Anteaters now stand at 1-0-1 overall after the first weekend of play.
Cal got on the board in the 18th minute thanks to Alex Morgan after freshman Grace Leer passed her the ball. Morgan drew the keeper out, beat her to Morgan's right and then put the ball straight into the back of the net.
"I got a great through ball from Grace Leer," Morgan said of her first score. "We've been practicing getting past the keeper so I just did what we've been practicing all week, and it went in."
From there, Irvine's Lexi Kopf was the next to score and tie the score for the first time. In the 34th minute, Kopf shot on an empty goal after Lauren Hein had been drawn out.
Shortly thereafter, the Bears proved yet another axiom true in that the five minutes following a score, the team that just scored is at its weakest. Just under three minutes following the Anteater goal, the Bears poked one through.
Cal earned a corner, which Emily Shibata took but Irvine cleared. Shibata regained control of the rebound and served it in to the left. Morgan took two touches and sent it into the bottom right corner to put the Bears back in the lead, 2-1.
"Emily was looking for me on the weak side, it didn't work the first time but she tried again and it worked then," Morgan said. "I got through a keeper and a defender to score. I think I was a little lucky in that goal. At that point we were just excited to be back up 2-1."
The Bears held that 2-1 lead for roughly 52 minutes before Irvine scored the tying goal to force overtime.
In goal, sophomore Lauren Hein started and played the first half, making two saves and allowing one goal. Freshman Emily Kruger took over for the second half and both over time periods, amassing one save and giving up one score. Morgan paced the Bears with two goals with Leer and Shibata assisting. Morgan led both sides with 10 shots, six of which were on goal. For Irvine, Nikki Forrest took three shots while goalie Danielle de Seriere made eight stops and allowed two goals.
Next up, the Bears host No. 9 Santa Clara on Friday, Aug. 27. The match, which pits two Bay Area women's soccer power houses against each other, will kickoff at 4 p.m. at Edwards Stadium and is free to watch. The last time these two teams met during the regular season, neither one came away with a win. On Oct. 4 2009, the then-No. 10 Bears and No. 11 Broncos battled to a 1-1 overtime tie. Santa Clara advanced to the third round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
