BERKELEY – California field hockey (0-3) held 10th-ranked Michigan (3-1) to only one goal for most of the game, but the Wolverines broke through with three goals in four minutes to down the Golden Bears, 5-0, Sunday afternoon on Underhill Field.
 
"We have to be careful about focusing on the results and understanding it's still all about the process. We played better today than Friday and solved a few things, so I'm encouraged by that," said head coach Shellie Onstead. "But for eight or nine minutes where we allowed a cascade of goals to happen, it was a pretty solid game."
 
Cal gave up only two shots before halftime, with a lone goal coming from Wolverine Carly Bennett's breakaway in the 29th minute to put Michigan on the board. The Bears had one chance of their own at the cage from sophomore Katrina Carter and gave up just one penalty corner in the first 35 minutes.
 
The tight contest continued through most of the second half until Cal gave up a corner to Michigan, which would set off a string of shots over the next several minutes. Sina Lampe sent a ball toward the cage on a corner set play, which deflected off Cal junior goalkeeper Kori Griswold, but Courtney Enge was there to tip the ball into the goal.
 
Michigan led 2-0 and added another goal to its total two minutes later when Lampe passed to Bennett from just outside the circle. Bennett sent the ball in from the left for a 3-0 lead for the Wolverines.
 
The Wolverines scored their third goal in the span of four minutes off a connection from Eliza Stein to Bree Bednarski.
 
At 68:17, Michigan earned the first of four penalty corners as the clock ticked down to 0:00. Cal saw defensive saves from senior Michaela Swensen and junior Mara Gutierrez on two corners, and on the final corner of the game, Griswold saved a shot but the Cal defense couldn't clear the ball away in time and Enge once again got ahold of it and scored.
 
The Cal defense finished with five saves on the day, including three by Griswold, but Michigan overpowered the Bears with a 12-2 lead in shots, and 7-0 advantage in corners.
 
"We had the opportunity to really analyze and set ourselves up to clear the slate for today, and I think that we did an amazing job compared to how we looked Friday," Carter said. "We're going to keep building and working off of this. Looking at the scoreboard, yes, we lost 5-0, but it doesn't feel like it. We played well."

HEAD COACH SHELLIE ONSTEAD'S TAKE 

On overall performance:
"We have to be careful about focusing on the results and understanding it's still all about the process. We played better today than Friday and solved a few things, so I'm encouraged by that…but for eight or nine minutes where we allowed a cascade of goals to happen, it was a pretty solid game."

MICHIGAN'S GOALS

28:08 – Carly Bennett (unassisted)
54:23 – Courtney Enge (unassisted)
56:55 – Carly Bennett (assisted by Sina Lampe)
58:31 – Bree Bednarski (assisted by Eliza Stein)
70:00 – Courtney Enge (unassisted)

NEXT UP

The Bears head to Maryland for a pair of games at the Terrapin Invitational. Cal opens the tournament against Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 8 a.m. PT. The Bears will take on either American or Fairfield on Sunday, Sept. 11.