STANFORD – As tough as Saturday's 10-8 overtime loss to No. 1 USC was Saturday in the semifinals of the 2019 NCAA Championships, don't expect Cal head coach Coralie Simmons to try to forget about it anytime soon.

"I'll probably watch this game two thousand times," Simmons said.

The No. 4 Bears' season came to an end Saturday, but not before the team sent a message that it should be considered on par with whomever ends up winning the national championship on Sunday. USC, with just one loss in 28 games this season, was on its heels for much of the game as the Bears put a scare into the top team in the land.

"This is a semifinal we will never forget," Simmons said. "We want another two minutes. But it was a lot of fun. I want to play the game over."

Cal (17-8) fell behind 3-0 just over six minutes into the game, but as it has done so many times against top teams this season, came storming back. By early in the second quarter the Bears had evened the score at 3-3, then twice erased a two-goal deficit to finally force overtime.

Sophomore Brigit Mulder, capping off a breakout season where she assumed much of the scoring load vacated by the departure of four All-Americans from last year, scored twice in the first half to aid the Bears' comeback. Cal, which held the Trojans scoreless for over 16 minutes in an 8-3 loss earlier in the season, turned it up defensively again, allowing just four goals in the final three periods of regulation.

Much of their defensive success was due to another superior effort by senior goalie Madison Tagg, who matched her career-high with 18 saves that she set during last month's MPSF Championships against No. 3 UCLA. Tagg finished with 488 saves in her career, good for sixth on the program's all-time list.

Tagg, who was named an ACWPC All-American Honorable Mention last year, was named to the All-MPSF Second Team at the end of the regular season and figures to garner more All-American honors this year when those honors are handed down.

"She showed growth in a number of categories – mostly maturing as a leader and maturing as staple for us in and out of the water," Simmons said. "That helped her gain a lot of confidence and security in her role as a goalkeeper. Her ability to show up in big moments and really be the backbone for us defensively allowed us to compete at a high level."

Sophomore Kitty Lynn Joustra scored on a wicked backhand with 2:57 remaining to tie the game at 7-7 and ultimately force overtime. USC scored the first two goals of the extra sessions but sophomore Elli Protopapas answered with a goal with 39 seconds left to pull the Bears back within a goal. The Trojans added the punctuation mark with a goal with eight seconds remaining to close it out.

Junior Emma Wright scored her 67^th goal of the season, putting her in eighth place on Cal's all-time single-season scoring list. She also now has 154 career goals, which is ninth all-time in program history.

"I'm super proud of this squad," Simmons said. "I couldn't ask for more from them battling and having a lot of fun doing it. We were loose and playing for all the right reasons."


No. 1 USC 10, No. 4 Cal 8 (OT)
Cal 2 2 1 2 0 1 - 8
USC 3 2 1 1 1 2 - 10
Cal Goals: Brigit Mulder 2, Emma Wright, Kitty Lynn Joustra, Sarah Siepker, Elli Protopapas, Claire Sonne, Lauren Charter.
USC Goals: Paige Hauschild 3, Alejandra Aznar 2, Maud Megens, Grace Tehaney, Mireia Guiral, Bayley Weber, Tilly Kearns.
Cal Saves: Madison Tagg 18.
USC Saves: Amanda Longan 11.