Cal Falls To Anteaters In Overtime

BERKELEY – The California women's soccer team dropped their first match of the season on Thursday as they fell to UC Irvine by a 1-0 scoreline in overtime at Edwards Stadium.
 
The Bears dominated action throughout the game as they had a 11-0 shot advantage during regulation and a 9-1 advantage in corner kicks. UC Irvine did not threaten Angelina Anderson for the majority of the first 90 minutes. However, in overtime, the Anteaters got three shots off in quick succession, forcing Anderson into a beautiful save as she had to extend to keep the ball out of the net.
 
The Bears finished the game with a 14-4 advantage in shots, and had a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal.
 
However, the Bears luck didn't last as Sydney Collins couldn't find the ball in the defensive corner after it popped in the air. Scarlett Camberos jumped on the ball for UCI and dribbled down the endline, crossing the ball to Julia Gonzalez who scored the goal in the 104th minute of the game.
 
"Overall, we weren't as sharp as we needed to be in order to break down a very sharp and organized UC Irvine team," head coach Neil McGuire said. "As a result of that, we weren't able to create the type of chances that were legitimate goal-scoring chances, even though we did create a lot of offense. We gave them their one opportunity and they deservedly took it."
 
The loss was Cal's first of the season as the Bears fell to 3-1-2 to break-up their undefeated start to the regular season. The goal also ended a streak of 249 consecutive shutout minutes that the Bears held opponents scoreless.
 
The Bears were playing their first game in two weeks on Thursday as their two games last week vs. Sacramento State and at Santa Clara were cancelled. The Bears had limited practice time over the past week, and played the game while wearing masks.
 
"Every college soccer team deals with challenging situations throughout the season and we're no different," McGuire stated. "We have to rise above those and focus on the things that we can control. We'll work through these moments to improve our performance and hopefully turn that into victories."
 
The game became chippy in the second half as the teams combined to receive six yellow cards after intermission. UC Irvine picked up four of those yellows. The two teams combined for 25 fouls.
 
"We have a mature team, we'll handle a loss like we do a victory," McGuire said. "We'll evaluate what we can improve upon, and the things we did well and we'll look to improve in our next match."
 
The Bears will return to action on Sunday as they head to Long Beach State for their final non-conference game of the season. The game will kickoff at 4 p.m. from George Allen Field and be televised on ESPN+.