BERKELEY - Three Golden Bears notched hat tricks and the California women's lacrosse team got back in the win column with a 20-10 victory over Saint Mary's Friday night from Kabam Field at California Memorial Stadium. Cal improved to 3-10, 1-3 on the season.

The 20 goals were a season best, and it marked the first time that Cal scored 20 goals in a game since the 2014 meeting at Saint Mary's.

Susie Ropp, Elizabeth Pellechi and Kirsten Swanson were the three Bears to score three times against the Gaels. Pellechi and Jena Fritts paced the Bears with four points each. Fritts scored twice, tallied two assists and also secured three ground balls and caused three turnovers. Elizabeth Koehler secured a career-best six draw controls. 

"It's awesome, we got our first conference win," head coach Brooke Eubanks said. "We've talked about how each conference game is just as important as the next. It really doesn't matter who we're playing. We have a certain amount of wins that we need to get in order to get into the MPSF Tournament. We're making that our focus."

The lop-sided victory gave Eubanks the opportunity to get everyone on her bench into the game. A total of 19 Bears came off the bench and earned some playing time. A total of 12 Cal players got on the scoresheet, as well. 

"It helps morale," Eubanks said about the depth. "The players who are working hard every day in practice don't necessarily get to see the field during every game. When you're able to put everyone in the game, it boosts everyone's morale. Everybody is excited to see who is going to make the next big play. I think it's definitely good for momentum going into the next game."

Saint Mary's scored the first two goals of the game to take an early lead. Eubanks called a timeout to get her team back on track, and the Bears did just that. Cal scored the next eight goals, including two from Ropp, Swanson and Fritts in that span. Swanson completed her hat trick in the final two minutes of the first half, and the Bears took a 9-4 lead into halftime. 

Cal scored the first three goals of the second half to maintain control of the contest. 

The Bears outshot Saint Mary's, 39-21, and Cal was also a perfect 18-for-18 on clear attempts. 

"We executed on multiple sides of the field," Eubanks said. "We did a great job of getting ground balls in the second half, which was a struggle for us in the first half. We had consistency on the draws, and twelve different people scored for us today, which shows that we have more than just two attackers out there."

The Bears will remain in Berkeley for their next game against UC Davis on Friday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m.