Sept. 19, 2011
Final Stats
KENT, Ohio -
The No. 11 California Golden Bears scored four goals in the first 12 minutes of their match against the Kent State Golden Flashes. The Bears braved a driving rain storm to hold on for the 5-2 victory, improving to 7-1 this season.
Sophomore forward Andrea Earle wasted no time scoring her eighth goal of the season. Less than two minutes into the game, Earle dribbled the ball down, taking on the goalie one-on-one, and then poking the ball in on the left side of the cage. Less than 30 seconds later, sophomore forward Jordan O'Reilly was stationed on the left side of the cage, taking a pass from junior forward Rachelle Comeau and knocking it in to give Cal a 2-0 lead.
Comeau scored a goal of her own just after the ten minute mark, getting a hold of a loose ball rebound in front of the goal and knocking it in for a 3-0 Cal advantage. Cal made it a 4-0 lead just under 12 minutes into the game when junior forward Lauren Livingston scored her second goal of the season on a feed from senior forward Megan Shimojima.
Earle added a fifth Cal score in the second half, another unassisted goal, that was nearly a carbon copy of her first score of the game, taking the ball in from the left side after facing down the goalie one-on-one.
"The greatest thing about Andrea's two goals, which were both quite beautiful, was her decision making," said head coach Shellie Onstead. "She chose to keep the ball on her stick instead of passing it along and ended up taking on the goalie one-on-one. She was so poised and showed tremendous composure. I am very encouraged by her growth and progress."
The Golden Flashes, who took 13 shots in the second half, scored two late goals against redshirt freshman goalkeeper Courtney Hendrickson to make it a 5-2 final.
"The stats are a little deceptive when you look at them. We were very much in control of this game. I do give Kent State a lot of credit, though. They never gave up and they really kept coming at us."
Hendrickson, in her second stint in goal this season, played the entire second half, logging four saves. Senior goalkeeper Maddie Hand played the first half, making four saves without giving up a goal, improving her record to 7-1 on the season.
"The weather report had said there was a slight chance of rain," Onstead said. "What we got was a non-stop downpour. The game got kind of messy because of the weather, but we still managed to give some people, like Courtney Hendrickson, Caroline Struijk, and Jessica Kreck, some good minutes."
The Bears now hold a 7-1 overall record and are 1-0 in the NorPac. Kent State, who received votes in last week's Kookaburra NFHCA Coaches Poll, fall to 2-6. The game wrapped up a 2-1 road trip for the Bears.
"I wanted to acknowledge Deanna Kennedy who had a great week on defense for the Bears," Onstead added.
The Bears will come back to California and resume NorPac action this weekend. The Bears will head to Stanford on Friday, Sept. 23 for a showdown with the No. 9 ranked Stanford Cardinal. Cal will be at home on Sunday, Sept. 25, hosting the Pacific Tigers at 1 p.m. at Maxwell Family Field.
