Cal Beaten By San Diego State In Home Opener
BERKELEY – Cal started strong for the second straight game and got the second hat trick in its first three contests from Amanda Morse but fell to San Diego State, 15-6, in its home opener Friday at FTX Field at California Memorial Stadium.
Morse scored two of her three goals in the opening period with 8:14 and 0:55 to go while Nikki Zaccaro added her first goal of the campaign with 2:49 to go in the first quarter to lift Cal to a 3-1 advantage after the first 15 minutes. Deanna Balsama picked up San Diego State's lone goal of the opening period and the first of her game-high five total when she scored at 11:44. All four goals were unassisted.
The Aztecs rebound from their first-quarter deficit by scoring all four of the game's goals in the second quarter including three in the final 4:22 to lead 5-3 at the break. Bailey Brown (4:22, 2:43) had the middle two goals while Brook Waddell (14:46) had the first and Balsama (0:32) the fourth. Waddell also assisted on Brown's first goal while the other goals were unassisted.
Liz Scott got one goal back for the Bears and cut the SDSU lead to 5-4 just 36 seconds into the third quarter on an assist from Zaccaro but the Aztecs answered with back-to-back unassisted goals from Julia Lytle (12:59) and Brown (4:57) to move their lead back to three goals at 7-4. Morse's third goal with 3:12 to go in the third brought Cal's deficit back to two but Camdyn O'Donnell scored on Waddell's second assist of the game to give San Diego State an 8-5 advantage after three.
The Aztecs would be responsible for seven of the eight goals fourth quarter with Cal's lone scoring coming from Kennedy Mason, who notched her first career goal just moments after entering the game when she found the back of the net on assist from Maya Lawliss with 7:26 remaining. Balsama (11:01, 5:57, 3:36) had three Aztec goals in the fourth period, while Brown (12:43), O'Donnell (12:14), Cailin Young (8:17) and Katelyn Murphy (0:08) each scored once with all seven Aztec goals unassisted.
The game included seven cards with five yellows (Cal 3, San Diego State 2) and two greens (San Diego State 2, Cal 0). The Aztecs scored three man-up goals.
"This is a shift from our past," Cal head coach Brooke Eubanks said about the strong start. "In the past, we've had trouble starting off strong, and that's something we've really worked on this year. However, we've got to be able to sustain that."
Cal (0-3) continues a three-game homestand with a non-conference contest against No. 15 Denver (2-0) at FTX Field at California Memorial Stadium on Sunday (Noon PST).