Oct. 14, 2011
Final Stats
BERKELEY -
The No. 12 California Golden Bears won their fifth game in a row, dispatching the UC Davis Aggies 3-1 Friday night at Maxwell Family Field. Andrea Earle scored her 13th goal of the season.
The Bears, who have not played since Oct.2, started the game slow. They finally found their way onto the scoreboard with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Sophomore forward Jordan O'Reilly went on the attack, getting fouled in the circle to earn a penalty corner opportunity for the Bears. Sophomore midfielder Shannon Elmitt injected the ball to junior defender Deanna Kennedy who set up senior defender Erin Magill. Magill smashed a shot into the center of the net beneath the goalkeeper to put Cal up, 1-0.
The Bears added their second goal less than two minutes into the second half. The Bears got another penalty corner. After a scrum in front of the net, sophomore forward Andrea Earle picked up the ball after it deflected off the Davis goalie's pads, knocking it into the right corner for her conference-leading 13th goal of the season.
"Deanna [Kennedy] was on fire," said head coach Shellie Onstead. "Her high school team was here. There are Scripps Ranch kids on both teams. I think that inspired the aggressive play, which is nice. She's been doing that all year which is great."
Davis got a momentum swing when they scored with just under five minutes to play. The Aggies had a penalty corner opportunity with just under three minutes remaining, but the Bears killed it to maintain the 2-1 lead. The Bears sent the ball back down to the UC Davis end of the pitch and kept it there the remainder of the contest. After a restart with less than ten seconds remaining in the game, sophomore Shannon Elmitt smacked a pass to Lara Kruggel who took a shot into the middle of the net, giving Cal the 3-1 final.
""I knew they would be a tough team" said Onstead. "I think they always come with a lot of enthusiasm and they try to bring a lot of pressure. I think we handled it reasonably well. I just think that we didn't take advantage of our opportunities early which kept them in the game a little bit longer than I would have liked. Hats off to them. They played a good game."
With the victory, the Bears improve to 12-2, 3-1 in the NorPac. UC Davis falls to 3-9, 1-2 in NorPac.
The Bears will play their final home game of the season on Sunday, Oct. 16, when they host the No. 9 Stanford Cardinal at 1 p.m. at Maxwell Family Field.
""We've got to pay attention to the simple lapses that let UC Davis get some momentum," said Onstead. "But, I do think that we responded well to their pressure. So, I think we'll take that going into Sunday, which is going to be a completely different style of play."
