SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 25 California women's soccer team took a loss on the road Thursday night falling to No. 12 Notre Dame 5-2. The Golden Bears have now lost three straight matches, all of which came against top 12 teams.
Cal (10-4-2, 3-3-1) fell behind early in its first trip to Alumni Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, giving up a goal in the 26th minute, but were quick to respond. Less than two minutes later
Soleil Dimry made the perfect dummy play on a ball from
Miriam Hils that allowed Dimry to drive deep into Notre Dame territory. Dimry then played a ball into the penalty area for Lema, who chased it down and flicked it off the underside of the crossbar and in.
Lema now has 15 goals on the year which is good for second in the nation and ties Brandi Chastain, Laura Schott, and Tucka Healy for fourth-most in a single season in Cal history. Her 29 career goals tie Arielle Ship for seventh-most all time.
The Irish (9-1-3, 3-0-3) retook the lead in the 36th minute and held the advantage going into the half. Cal responded early in the second half as Lema sprinted up the right touchline and drew three Irish defenders towards her. The senior forward managed to gain a step on all three of them before firing a bullet of a cross into the box for a cutting
Noelle Bond-Flasza who fired the equalizer into the top left corner of the net. It was Bond-Flasza's second goal of the season and Lema's team-leading sixth assist. Lema now leads the country with 36 points.
Coming into the match, Notre Dame had only given up five goals all season and had only given up multiple goals twice. The Bears are the first team to score on the Irish in October and the first team to score multiple goals at Alumni Stadium since Notre Dame's season opener.
The Irish won the shot battle 25-12 putting 12 attempts on frame and ended the night on a 3-0 scoring run to extend their unbeaten streak to 12 matches.
Cal will now look to earn some points in the ACC standings this Sunday at Louisville. Kick-off is set for 9 a.m. PT on ACCNX and ESPN+.
