PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The first half of Sunday's match between the Cal field hockey team and Bryant Bulldogs featured little in the way of offense. That changed in a big way in the second half when the Bears exploded for a season-high five goals, three coming from senior Rachel Buttinger, as Cal defeated the Bulldogs 5-0 at Lennon Family Field.  

Cal (2-6, 1-1 AE) had a particularly fruitful day on the attack, finishing the afternoon with a season-high 21 shots with 11 on goal. In the second half alone, Cal tallied 15 shots with nine of those on goal.

Bryant (4-6, 0-2 AE) was held without a goal thanks to the tremendous play by the Bears' backline. Cal held Bryant to just five shots with three on goal. The five shots allowed is a season-low for a Cal opponent.

"The biggest thing for me is, we did a lot of learning between Friday and Sunday, mostly in the film room, and I really wanted to make sure we carried over those lessons into today's match," said Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey, Shellie Onstead. "We made some changes after the bye coming into UAlbany, I was a little worried that the harsh results of the Albany game would dissuade the team from sticking to changes we made, and I was really happy with their buy-in.

"There was very significant play at the midfield that is not going to get a lot of acknowledgment when the attack is scoring a bunch of goals," added Onstead. "But Luzi (Persiehl) played very well today, same with Kiki (de Bruijne), Olivia (Sharratt), Hanna (Winn), and Caoimhe (Byrne). They all helped keep possession which made work very easy for our defense and set up our attack."

­­­It was a relatively quiet day for Cato Knipping. She recorded her eighth career shutout – her first since a 2-0 win over Stanford on October 22, 2021. Knipping finished the afternoon with three saves.

Midway through the third period, Monica Arteaga broke the scoreless tie when she took a pass from Sharratt and blasted a shot past Bryant's keeper Dienke Hes. It was Arteaga's third goal of the season and second game-winning goal of the year.

Five minutes later it was Buttinger's turn to light up the scoreboard. The senior from Ontario, Canada scored the first of her three goals on a pass from Kiki de Bruijne in the 38^th minute.

After three-quarters Cal had a comfortable 2-0 advantage, however, that would not satisfy the Bears. Buttinger added two goals in rapid-fire fashion, scoring an unassisted goal in the 53^rd minute. Less than a minute later she took a pass from Elana Eisenberg to complete the hat trick in the 54^th minute.

The three goals by Buttinger give her four for the year, which matches her career-high from 2021. It is the first hat trick for the Golden Bears since Megan Rodgers scored three against Providence on August 24, 2018.  

"Today I would give all the credit for my goals to my team," said Buttinger. "All three goals were because of the way our team was playing together. The way we were carrying the ball opened up so much more space, we played as a team and we really worked together, passing and moving so well which created a lot of balls in the circle which we were able to finish."

Kiki de Bruijne added a fifth goal in the 56^th minute when she redirected a pass from Persiehl on a penalty corner on the left side of the circle. It was the first goal of the season for de Bruijne and second assist for Persiehl.

"That was cool," said Onstead, discussing the Bears' attack on Sunday. "You kind of hope as a coach the goals will follow, the results will follow but you have to stick with these things. I'm really proud of the coaching group and the team because of the work we did. You are distilling a lot of information starting Friday night by film, you've got a short little practice on Saturday and then have to take what you learned into the game on Sunday."

Not coincidentally, Cal's season-high in goals scored came on the heels of former Golden Bear Valentina Godfrid visiting the team last week, and spending time working with Cal's forwards. Godfrid scored 93 goals in her brilliant career from 2003-06.

UP NEXT
Cal will play just one game next week, a home contest against UC Davis on Friday, September 30. The match between the Bears and Aggies is slated for a 6:05 p.m. start time and will feature live video and live stats. Friday's contest will also be senior night, with a special pre-game ceremony honoring Cal's nine graduating players. Admission is free and open to the public.
 
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