STOCKTON, Calif — California field hockey fell to Pacific, 2-1, to open America East conference play Sunday afternoon at Pacific Field Hockey Turf in Stockton, Calif.

Megan Rodgers scored her seventh goal of the season, and Janaye Sakkas tallied an assist as the Bears outshot the Tigers, 7-6.

Rylee Comeau put Pacific up early, scoring at 1:07 via a pass from Taylor Dempsey to open a fiercely competitive game.

The Bears held through the first half, with goalkeeper Natalie Dalton playing the entire 35-minute half. At halftime, Pacific led 1-0 on Comeau's goal, while the Bears and Tigers were even in shots, 3-3, and penalty corners, 1-1.

Ash Rutherford extended Pacific's lead in the 64th minute with Comeau on the assist, but the Bears battled back with Rodgers' goal less than a minute later to make it a 2-1 score.

Cal goalkeeper Danielle Mentink played 29 minutes of the second half before the Bears pulled their keeper in favor of an extra field player. Pacific counterpart Marlis van Tonder played all 70 minutes, tallying three saves against the Bears.

NEXT UP

Cal hits the road for its final nonconference trip of the season. The Bears will head to Syracuse, N.Y. for a pair of games with  Boston College (Oct. 6, 12 p.m. PT) and host Syracuse (Oct. 7, 11 a.m.)