Bears return to Edwards
Emily Kruger has started all 12 matches in goal for the Golden Bears.
BERKELEY - The No. 18 California women's soccer team returns home to Edwards Stadium, where it hasn't played since a victory over Arizona State on Sept. 23, this weekend. The Golden Bears host No. 2 UCLA on Friday at 4 p.m. and face USC on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Berkeley.
California is ranked No. 18 in the latest TopDrawerSoccer.com national poll released this week. The Bears are also receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA), Soccer America and Soccer Times polls. Call climbed as high as No. 11 in the national rankings (TopDrawerSoccer.com) during the week of Sept. 19-25.
California has scored 32 goals in its first 12 matches and is out-scoring its opponent 32-13 overall. The Bears are 11th nationally in scoring offense with an average of 2.67 goals per game. Cal has scored four or more goals in five of its 12 matches this season and has produced six or more goals in a game twice in 2011 (7-0 vs. North Dakota State and 6-1 at San Francisco). Cal ranks second in the Pac-12 in points (7.58), goals (2.67) and assists (2.25).
Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Kruger has started all 12 matches for the Bears with a 1.14 goals-against average and a pair of shutouts on the year. The sophomore net minder played all 90 minutes between the posts to record the shutout at Hawaii and at Long Beach State. She played the first 45 minutes of Cal's 7-0 victory over North Dakota State and all but 42 seconds due to injury in the 1-0 win against Arizona State, but NCAA rules require goalkeepers to play the full match to receive credit for a shutout.
With eight victories this season head coach Neil McGuire now has 53 career wins in his fifth season with the Golden Bears. McGuire's last win against Arizona State on Sept. 23 moved him into a tie with Andy Bonchonsky (1991-96) for the third-most career victories in school history. McGuire owns a 53-32-9 career record at Cal.
The Golden Bears had their eight-match winning streak come to an end with a 3-0 setback at No. 21 Santa Clara on Sept. 25. The eight consecutive victories was the longest winning streak since 2000 when Cal opened the season with eight-straight wins. The Bears defeated San Diego State (2-1 in OT), North Dakota State (7-0), Hawaii (3-0), Kent State (5-1), Denver (4-2), Long Beach State (2-0), San Francisco (6-1) and Arizona State (1-0) during the streak. The lost to Santa Clara was Cal's first defeat since Aug. 19.
The 2011 Golden Bears became the fastest to reach eight victories since the 2001 team, which also opened the year with eight victories in its first nine matches. It was the best start for Cal in the Neil McGuire era.
Cal senior forward Katie Benz suffered a season-ending injury in the Santa Clara match on Sept. 25. The Sonoma, Calif. native led the Pac-12 Conference and was in the top-five nationally in scoring at the time of her injury. She recorded 10 goals and three assists in the 10 matches she played in this season. Benz played a scoring role in each of the first eight matches on the year with a goal in seven-straight contests prior to her injury.
California traveled north last weekend where the Bears posted a 1-1 draw with Washington in Seattle and a 2-0 loss against Washington State in Pullman, Wash.
In Friday's contest in Seattle, the Huskies took the lead in the 47th minute as Kelli Stewart fed Jaclyn Softli, who found the back of the net from 10 yards out.
Betsy Hasset nearly tied it up for the Bears in the 67th minute with her shot ricocheting off the post. Cal continued to control possession in Husky territory in search of the tying score.
Later in the half, Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick rocketed a shot that bounced off the cross bar and Rachel Mercik corralled the rebound, punching it in for the equalizer at the 72:53 mark to force overtime.
The Bears and Huskies played two scoreless overtime periods, combining for three shots in the extra session before settling for the draw.
Cal's Emily Kruger recorded five saves, while LaFontaine-Kussmann of Washington registered three stops. The Bears out-shot the Huskies 15-10 overall in the contest.
Similar to the Bears' contest on Friday, Cal and Washington State played a scoreless first half. The Cougars netted both their scores in a span of 3:41 in the second period.
Washington State's Jocelyn Jeffers took a throw in from Delaney Zalud and crossed the ball to Brandi Vega, who headed it past goalie Emily Kruger for the goal at the 56:17 mark.
The Cougars extended their lead to 2-0 just over three and a half minutes later after Vega received the ball in the box off a Kayla Johnson corner kick and sent a shot that ricocheted off the hip of Nicole Setterlund and into the back of the net.
The Golden Bears owned a 10-9 edge in shots and a 9-8 advantage in corner kicks. Fitzpatrick posted a team-high three shots in the contest. Kruger made four stops between the posts for Cal, while Gurveen Clair recorded three saves for the Cougars.
Cal hits the road again, traveling to Tucson, Ariz. on Friday, Oct. 14 for a matchup with Arizona at 7 p.m. at Murphey Field at Mulcahy Stadium.
UCLA comes into Friday's content undefeated with a 10-0-1 overall record. The Bruins are ranked No. 2 nationally in most major polls. Their lone tie on the year came against Pepperdine, who also faced Cal with the Bears dropping a 2-1 decision. The Bruins and Bears each faced Washington during the regular season as well with UCLA winning, 1-0, and Cal earning a 1-1 draw. The Bruins have surrendered just four goals the entire season. Freshman Katelyn Rowland has started 10 of UCLA's 13 matches between the posts with a 0.33 goals-against average and 22 saves. Senior forward Sydney Leroux has a team-leading 15 points with seven goals and one assist.
Cal held No. 14/13 UCLA to 82 minutes of scoreless play before the Bruins snuck in a goal to take the 1-0 decision. Sydney Leroux scored the lone goal at 82:01 on a give and go with Jenna Richmond.
Katrin Omarsdottir paced the Cal side with four shots. Bears Goalkeeper Emily Kruger made five saves in 90 minutes of play between the posts. UCLA outshot the Bears, 13-9, noting the second time all season the Bears have been outshot.
USC comes to Berkeley with a record of 3-9-0 overall and 0-3-0 in the Pac-12. The Trojans, who play at No. 1 Stanford on Friday, have dropped six-straight matches heading into the weekend. USC is coming off a 2-1 loss at home to Oregon last Sunday. The Trojans and Bears have faced two common opponents so far this season in Long Beach State and Washington State. USC lost to both teams by a 2-1 score, while Cal defeated LBSU, 2-0, and lost to WSU, 2-0. Midfielder Brittany Kerridge leads USC offensively with 11 total points (three goals, five assists) this season. Goalkeeper Shelby Church has played all 1,104 minutes between the posts for the Trojans with a 1,71 goals-against average.
Cal's Megan Jesolva and Alex Morgan teamed up for three goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation to put the Bears up, 4-3, at USC, but the Women of Troy scored at 88:38 and 94:09 to take the game, 5-4.
USC established its lead at 1:43 with a goal from Megan Ohai and increased that to 2-0 at 3:23. The Trojans held that advantage for the next 62 minutes, when sophomore Lauren Battung brought Cal within one at 2-1. USC moved back up by two at 75:12, but the Bears responded seconds later with Morgan's first of three scores.
Morgan scored again at 86:20 and then notched a hat trick with a goal at 88:24 to give Cal its first lead of the game at 4-3. Twelve seconds after Morgan's third goal, USC tied it thanks to Elizabeth Eddy. In the fifth minute of overtime, Ashli Sandoval scored the golden goal off a free kick, ending the game at 5-4 in USC's favor.
Morgan paced the game with eight shots while Jesolva was right behind her with five. Kruger made one save in 94:09 minutes of work. Cal handily out-shot USC, 21-13 and took seven corner kicks to USC's one.
DeBack on the Daily - A Cal Women's Soccer Blog Periodically though this season, sophomore forward Mekenna DeBack will be gracing CalBears.com with a blog entitled DeBack on the Daily.
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