BERKELEY - After jumping out to a 10-5 halftime lead, the California women's lacrosse team had to fend off a second-half surge by UC Davis, with the Aggies cutting Cal's lead down to one on multiple occasions. The Golden Bears never let the Aggies tie the game, and won, 16-13, Friday night from California Memorial Stadium. 

Cal earned its first win of 2019 and improved its record on the year to 1-4. 

"Obviously, a win can give you confidence, especially after some close losses," head coach Brooke Eubanks said. "I think it shows that we can compete, we will compete, but it's not something we can hang our hat on. We have a lot of work to do. Our goal is to end nonconference play with a record of 3-4, and we're definitely capable of achieving that. We need to stay focused and determined on what we need to improve upon. It's great to be excited about today's win, but we still have things we need to work on."

The Cal offense featured seven different scorers. Caroline Corzel led the way with five points on four goals and one assist, while Kirsten Swanson and Eliza Christman also garnered hat tricks. Swanson also added an assist to give her four points on the night. In addition to the points, Swanson notched eight draws to lead the Bears. 

While the Cal offense was productive, the defense also played its part in the win. The Bears caused 10 turnovers to the Aggies' four, and Cal only committed eight total for the game to the 15 committed by UC Davis. 

At the 21:33 mark in the second half, Cal took a 12-7 lead after Swanson netted her second tally of the game. The Aggies then went on a run of scoring the next four goals to cut the Cal lead down to one. The Bears held firm, though, and never allowed the Aggies to tie the game. Cal ended the contest by scoring three of the final four goals in the last 10 minutes of regulation. 

"That's a huge mental success for us today because we have had trouble with that in the past," Eubanks said. "To be able to rebound from that when they scored a couple goals and went on a run, but to not crumble under that, stay composed, stick to the plan and execute that plan was huge for us."

The Bears started the contest red hot, as they had in their previous two games last weekend in Las Vegas, scoring the first three goals in the first half and four of the first five to jump out to an early lead. Unlike the games last weekend, Cal never relinquished the lead once despite the strong play by UC Davis, cutting the Bears' down to one on multiple occasions throughout the game. 

The Bears close out the nonconference portion of their schedule next week with a trip to the east coast. Cal faces George Washington on Friday, March 1, at 11 a.m. from Washington D.C.