LOUISVILLE, KY. – The No. 25 California women's soccer team suffered its fourth straight ACC loss Sunday afternoon falling on the road at Louisville 2-1.
Neither team wasted any time getting on the board as both the Cardinals (7-6-3, 2-5-1) and the Golden Bears (10-5-2, 3-4-1) scored in the first 14 minutes. Louisville got a goal from Mackenzie Geigle in the 13th minute to take an early lead and exactly one minute later Cal forward
Karlie Lema was taken down by a Cardinal defender on the line of the penalty area.
Initially ruled a penalty kick, the play was reviewed, and it was determined that the foul occurred outside of the 18-yard box, giving the Bears a free kick in a favorable spot.
Julia Leontini lined up for Cal and went straight at the net, curling the perfect shot into the upper left corner past the leaping goalkeeper for the equalizer. It was Leontini's third goal of the season.
Geigle found the net again in the 42nd minute to give Louisville a 2-1 lead that it would hang on to for the rest of the contest.
The Bears applied heavy offensive pressure in the second half winning the shot battle 7-2 and saw a handful of promising opportunities, but the Cardinals' defense held strong. Of the Bears' 16 shots on the day, six landed on frame, compared to six total shots with four on goal for the home team. The Cal defense did not allow a single shot on goal in the second period.
Kelly McManus earned her second straight start and made two saves.
Cal, now in ninth place with 10 points, is on the outside looking in at the six-team ACC Championship. The Bears will need to win their last two matches for a chance at making the conference tournament in their inaugural ACC season.
The Bears will now return home for a Senior Day match with SMU on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 12 p.m. PT.
