Cal Falls To No. 15 USC In Return To Pac-12 Play

BERKELEY – Cal started strong again Friday when Kennedy Goss took the opening draw and marched down the field for an unassisted goal just 11 seconds into the Golden Bears' Pac-12 contest against No. 15 USC (6-1, 3-0 Pac-12) at FTX Field at California Memorial Stadium. Cal, which has led in the first or second quarter in four of its eight contests this season, extended its lead to 2-0 when Kennedy Mason scored an unassisted goal only 1:26 later at the 13:23 mark before USC scored the next five goals to take charge on the way to a 19-9 victory.

"We need to find that magic place where we can score on our first possessions offensively and stop our first possessions defensively," head coach Brooke Eubanks said. "It seems like we've had one or the other, but we need to have both."

The Trojans had seven goals in each of the first two periods including nine in a row at one point to build a 14-4 advantage at the half and led by as many 13 goals at 18-5 after three periods before the Bears put up four of the game's five tallies in the fourth quarter.

USC got a game-high six goals from the Pac-12's leading scorer Kelsey Huff, while Isabelle Vitale scored four times and added three assists for a game-high seven points. Katie Ramsay, Madison Waters and Maddie Dora each had a pair of goals for the Trojans with Dora adding an assist, while Maggie Brown had one goal and one assist. Shelby Tilton and Finley Ueland also each scored once while Claudia Shevitz was credited with a single assist.

Goss and Liz Scott each scored a pair of goals for Cal with Goss establishing a career high. Siena Davies, Hanna Deringer, Maya Lawliss, Kennedy Mason and Quinnlyn Mason had one apiece, with fourth-quarter goals for Davies and Deringer the first of their careers.

"One of our team values is joy and those moments bring a lot of joy for everybody," Eubanks said about the goals by Davies and Deringer. "Being able to have that opportunity in a game is huge for the players who don't always get that opportunity. A huge shout out to Hanna and Siena for being able to put those away."

"This was also kind of a breakout game for Kennedy Goss," Eubanks added. "It was a good game for her to build off of."

Lawliss, Lily Berger and Nikki Zaccaro each had a single assist for the Bears. Zaccaro's assist was the 80th of her career and moved her within three of Cal's all-time record of 83 by Colleen O'Mara (2001-04).

Cal (0-8, 0-2 Pac-12) hosts Arizona State (3-3, 2-1 Pac-12) Sunday at FTX Field at California Memorial Stadium in a game to televised live on Pac-12 Bay Area. First draw is scheduled for Noon PDT.