BERKELEY – California field hockey bestowed its senior class with a golden sendoff as the Bears defeated UC Davis, 3-2 in overtime, to clinch a share of the conference divisional title Friday evening at Underhill Field.
 
With the win, Cal improved to 9-6 on the season and 4-1 in America East action, allowing the Bears at least a share of the West Division crown with one game against Stanford remaining.
 
Megan Rodgers scored the golden goal in the 82nd minute after Cal ended regulation locked up 2-2 with UC Davis. Senior Mara Gutierrez and junior captain Melina Moore also added goals on the evening.
 
Femke Delissen tallied her team-leading ninth assist of the season, while Sterre van Ede added a second to her 2017 totals.
 
Moore put the Bears on the board in the 20th minute with help from the insert by van Ede and the stop from Delissen.
 
The Aggie equalizer came from Briana Sooy at 25:01 as Sooy broke away from the pack and shot past Cal goalkeeper Danielle Mentink.
 
Less than two minutes later, Gutierrez put the Bears back up on another corner play, launching a straight shot that was deflected by the Aggie defense into the cage.
 
At halftime, Cal had capitalized on two of its six corner plays and outshot Davis 13-6.
 
UC Davis found its second equalizer of the night when Nicola Prebble passed left to Emily Chen, who sent it to the back left of the cage. At 57:16, the Bears and Aggies met the 2-2 deadlock.
 
Cal outshot Davis 15-1 in the second half, but failed to convert any of those chances as Aggie goalie Chelsea Bigelow stopped five shots on target. At the end of regulation, she had nine saves while Mentink had four.
 
The Bears dominated overtime, outshooting the Aggies 4-0 and earning two penalty corners before Rodgers finally muscled her way through a pair of defenders in the 82nd minute to tally the gamewinner.
 
For the game, Cal outshot UC Davis 32-7, with a 13-2 lead in penalty corners. Bigelow made 12 saves, while Mentink finished with four.
 
HEAD COACH SHELLIE ONSTEAD'S TAKE
On game overall:
"I'm really proud of the team. I predicted privately that we might go into overtime today because I knew Davis was going to fight so hard. It was everything we thought it would be. It was a really great win because they had to pull together and play out of position to stay in it and not give up. That's what a coach loves to see."
 
On atmosphere:
"The crowd was fantastic. It kept the energy up. The players didn't ever hang their heads – they just kept working and working. Of course this was the senior game, and we knew they would lead us today. They did a great job."
 
CAL'S GOALS
19:42 – Melina Moore (assisted by Femke Delissen and Sterre van Ede)
 
27:00 – Mara Gutierrez (unassisted)
 
81:31 – Megan Rodgers (unassisted)
 
UC DAVIS' GOALS
25:01 – Briana Sooy (unassisted)
 
57:16 – Emily Chen (assisted by Nicola Prebble)
 
NEXT UP
Cal wraps up the regular season at No. 17 Stanford on Sunday at 3 p.m. from Stanford's Varsity Turf.