BERKELEY – The No. 22 California women's soccer team became the first Cal program to win an ACC contest on home soil defeating No. 16 Pitt 1-0 Thursday afternoon at Edwards Stadium. Sophomore forward
Soleil Dimry provided the game-winning goal in the 47th minute, the first score of her career.
It was a day of firsts for the Golden Bears (9-1-2, 2-0-1) who earned their first ACC shutout and first ranked win of the season in the program's inaugural conference home opener. Cal has now won eight of its last nine matches and has gone 10 straight contests without a loss.
Pitt (7-3-1, 1-2-0) won the shot battle 11-3 and put five shots on goal, but Golden Bear goalkeeper
Teagan Wy kept a clean in her first game back from a bronze medal performance with Team USA at the U20 FIFA Women's World Cup. The junior collected a season-high five saves, including a couple of highlight, game-saving efforts.
After taking just one shot in the first half, the Bears sent out a more offensive-centered lineup to start the second half with senior
Velize King and Dimry hitting the field first. Dimry, who has missed a lot of time this year due to injury and did not play a single minute in the first period, wasted no time providing her team with some offense in the 47th minute. King beat the Pitt defense down the right touchline and centered it for Dimry who fired it into the bottom left corner of the goal. The shot rolled just past diving Pitt keeper Ellie Breech and into the net giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
King now ranks second on the team with three assists on the year and third with seven points.
The entire match was a physical battle, and the pace picked up even more following Cal's early second-half score. The Panthers got off six shots and had a handful of solid looks, none more than Sarah Schupansky's rifle of a shot from outside of the 18-yard box with under two minutes to play. The Pitt senior forward curled a ball perfectly towards the upper right corner of the Cal goal with her left foot, but had her chance foiled by Wy who made an incredible leaping save.
The Bears are back at Edwards Stadium this Sunday for a matchup with the Miami Hurricanes (3-3-2, 0-1-1). Kick off is set for 1 PM on ACC Network Extra.
