Boyd Tallies Career-High Seven Saves in Loss to No. 1 UCLA
LOS ANGELES – California goalkeeper Emily Boyd tallied a career-high seven saves, but strong performances by Boyd and her defense were not enough to thwart top-ranked UCLA from overpowering the No. 22 Golden Bears in a 3-0 loss to the Bruins Monday evening. With the loss, Cal falls to 10-4 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-12.
UCLA overpowered Cal in the first 45 minutes, pressuring the Bears into defense for most of the half. Despite an 11-1 shot advantage, however, Cal answered UCLA's offense with a resilient back line, and the Bruins managed to put only four on frame - all saved by Boyd.
At 36:22, the Bears found a hole in the Bruin defense. Taylor Comeau dashed the ball from the Cal midfield toward the UCLA box, crossing it to the right toward a nearly open Arielle Ship, whose shot sailed just high.
The Bruins broke the deadlock early in the second half using a close-range goal from Darian Jenkins at 46:35. Taylor Smith came along the right sideline and crossed it left toward Jenkins, who was fighting off Indigo Gibson near the left post. Jenkins slammed into the ball from just inches away to put UCLA up 1-0.
Sarah Killion added another for UCLA near the 57-minute mark. Centered just a few yards outside of the box, Sam Mewis played a ball to the right, where Killion launched it to the opposite corner past a diving Boyd.
Cal got its best chance of the night at 64:07 thanks to Grace Leer, who put the ball on frame for the first time in the game, but UCLA goalie Katelyn Rowland was right there to cradle the ball to a stop.
While Boyd’s saves column continued to grow, the Bruins added another goal to the scoreboard for the 3-0 final. UCLA earned a free kick in the 72nd minute, which was taken by Abby Dahlkemper, but Boyd made a diving save to stop it. Unfortunately, the Bears were not as lucky the second time around when Dahlkemper took another kick in the 82nd minute. Though her shot was stopped, the ball bounced back into play, where Zoey Goralski got a foot on it and sent it into the net for the final score.
The Bears make a pit stop back in Berkeley to host Utah Friday at 2 p.m. before heading off to face the Arizona schools.
HEAD COACH NEIL MCGUIRE'S TAKE
McGuire says: Tonight was not our night. UCLA played the best I've ever seen them play and made us pay. We can only learn and move on, but this one hurts.
Our focus is now preparing for a very good Utah team on Friday.
UCLA GOALS
47’ – Darian Jenkins (assisted by Taylor Smith and Sam Mewis) – Crossed from the right of the field to the front of the goal near the left post
57’ – Sarah Killion (assisted by Sam Mewis and Caprice Dydasco) – Shot from the top right of the box into the left corner
83’ – Zoey Goralski (assisted by Abby Dahlkemper) – shot after ball saved on a free kick
NEWS & NOTES
- Cal is 10-4 overall and 2-3 in Pac-12 play.
- Emily Boyd made a career-high seven saves. Her previous best was six.
- This is the second time Cal was shut out in 2014.
- Three goals is the most Cal has allowed an opponent to score.
NEXT UP
The Golden Bears return to Berkeley for a quick pit stop against the Utah Utes at 2 p.m. Friday on Goldman Field.
ON THE BOX SCORE
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 46:35 UCLA Jenkins, Darian (4) (Smith, Taylor;Mewis, Sam) - cross from right to front of goal
2. 56:33 UCLA Killion, Sarah (3) (Mewis, Sam;Dydasco, Caprice) - shot from top of the box
3. 82:34 UCLA Goralski, Zoey (2) (Dahlkemper, Abby) - shot after save off free kick
Shots: California 4, UCLA 20
Saves: California 7 (BOYD,EMILY 7), UCLA 1 (Rowland, Katelyn 1)