BERKELEY – Fifth-ranked California suffered a 16-13 overtime loss in its home opener on Saturday morning as visiting UC Davis scored twice in the final 25 seconds of regulation and later outscored the Bears, 4-1, in overtime.
 
After a combined 15 goals through the first three quarters of play – Cal led 8-7 at the end of the third – both teams put together an offensive onslaught over the final 14 minutes with 14 goals between them. The Bears (3-2) dropped their second match of the early season while No. 11 UC Davis improved to 3-2 overall.
 
With the match tied, 10-10, Jordan Hoover scored his second goal with an assist from fellow senior Safak Simsek to give Cal the lead at the 2:16-mark of the fourth quarter. Simsek followed it up with a goal of his own – his second of three on the day – one minute later, making it a 12-10 lead for the Bears. Two costly turnovers by the Bears proved to be difference-makers, however, as they translated to a pair of goals for UC Davis. The Aggies scored with 25 seconds left and then tied the contest with nine seconds remaining to force overtime.
 
UC Davis was the first to strike in overtime, notching a goal with 1:23 left. Simsek's third goal knotted the match at 13-13 with 0:25 remaining in the first overtime period. The Aggies went on to score three unanswered goals from then on to seal the road victory.
 
Both teams traded blows and were tied 2-2 at the end of the first quarter. Cal took a 5-2 lead in the second period with three consecutive goals by Hoover, Jasmin Kolasinac and Simsek and would later lead 7-4.
 
Freshman Adrian Weinberg took the loss in goal despite making a handful of highlight-reel defensive efforts en route to a 17-save performance. Weinberg played the entire match, logging all 38 minutes of play.
 
COACH EVERIST'S TAKE
"I first want to congratulate UC Davis; they played hard and played well," said head coach Kirk Everist. "We have a great deal of work to do to get to the level we aspire to be at this year.
 
"We had the ball with the opportunity to close out the game and didn't get it done. We'll have the chance to get better (Sunday) against another excellent team in Pacific. It's a great test and opportunity for this group to bounce back."
 
NOTABLES

• Weinberg's 17 saves are a season-best. The freshman added one steal.
• Eight Bears netted at least one goal. Simsek (3), Jack Deely (2), Hoover (2) and Nikolaou Papanikolaou (2) all had multi-goal efforts.
• Papanikolaou recorded a team-best five exclusions earned and two field blocks.
• Kolasinac had a team-leading three assists to go along with one goal scored.
• Cal scored on all three of its five-meter penalty shots.
• The Bears were 6-of-11 on power play-opportunities and held UC Davis to 5-of-20 in such instances.

NEXT TIME
A quick turnaround will pit Cal against sixth-ranked Pacific (1-0) at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
 
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