BERKELEY --- The No. 18 California women's soccer team opened their 2016 campaign and kicked of the 2016-17 schedule for Cal Athletics by earning a solid 1-0 victory over the Cal Poly Mustangs Friday afternoon at Goldman Field. A second half goal by redshirt senior Ifeoma Onumonu - the 24th of her career - was more than enough for the Golden Bears (1-0) to win its fifth opener in the last seven seasons and sixth game in nine tries against Cal Poly (0-1).

"It's great to come out of the gates with a victory," Cal Head Coach Neil McGuire said after the game. "Last year, Cal Poly played us very well and, in many respects, could have beaten us so we knew this was going to be a tough match. We were tentative in the first half, but in the second half we opened up our offense and started moving the ball and because of that we created a lot of goal scoring opportunities."

Cal could have added many more scores - the team took 24 total shots and put 11 on goal - but the Bears saw a number of quality chances thwarted by crossbars, posts and Cal Poly goalkeeper Sophia Brown, who stopped ten shots for the Mustangs in defeat.

In other words, Cal looked exactly like a quality team in its first contest - flashes of brilliance, a bit of rust and a win to help the lessons of the match sink in easier.

After a slow start to the match that saw neither team take a shot until the 13th minute, Cal began to assert itself on both sides of the ball. The Bears were able to decidedly control possession by converting efficient defensive pressure into opportunities for offense. The team's efforts nearly paid off in the 24th minute after the Mustangs committed a foul in the box to give senior forward Arielle Ship her first penalty kick attempt of the year. Ship hit a solid ball but it was turned away by Brown, less than a minute after Onumonu's first attempt ricocheted off the post.

The Bears held a 8-1 shooting edge in the first half and made a conscious effort to pick up the pace in the second. It only took 17 minutes for Cal to match its shot opportunities from the first half, culminating with a dish from Ship and a well-driven ball off one touch from Onumonu.
"We had a lot of opportunities in the game [before the goal] so I was just thinking about executing. I got a good pass from Arielle, was able to get a touch and get it on goal," Onumonu said when asked to describe the eventual game-winning sequence.
Cal also held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks and held the Mustangs to three shots in the match.

NEXT UP
Cal will wrap up its opening weekend with its first road game of the season, a 1 p.m. tilt against Santa Clara on Sunday, August 21.