Bears Score Twice To Take Down Aggies

BERKELEY – California field hockey defeated UC Davis 2-1 in a tightly contested match under the lights at Underhill Field on Friday night.

"We always expect a battle, and it was just like that" Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey Shellie Onstead said about the night's action-packed game.

The Aggies took the first shot of the match in the second minute of the first period, but Cal senior goalkeeper Cato Knipping stopped the early threat with a save.

Kiki de Bruijne then found the back of the net in the fifth minute of the match to give Cal an early lead. This was Bruijne's second goal of the season, her first being in last week's match against Bryant.  

Davis responded just two minutes later to even out the score on a goal by Aggies' Brooke Sanchez with an assist by Lizzy Tredow. The Aggies had another opportunity to score off a penalty corner play one minute later, but the shot taken by Caroline Stutte was wide.

Cal started out the second period with two penalty corners, both taken by senior Rachel Buttinger. The Bears took five shots throughout the period and the defense prevented Davis from taking any. The second period was scoreless, however, leaving the score set at 1-1 at the half.

The third period was another scoreless fifteen minutes, with both teams taking a pair of shots over the course of the quarter. Buttinger took another two penalty corners for Cal, providing shot opportunities to Hanna Winn and Olivia Sharratt, although both were blocked. Davis also took one penalty corner that was blocked by Cal at the 40th minute.

The scoreless thirty minutes came to an end when the Bears collected their second goal of the match in the beginning of the fourth period. Buttinger took another penalty corner which Luzi Persiehl took advantage of as she placed the ball in the net on a pass from Jane Onners.

The two teams traded shots throughout the rest of the period, but Cal's defense held off the Aggies and was bolstered by a save by Knipping at the end of the match to clinch the 2-1 win. This is the fourth-straight win over UC Davis for the Bears.

"I think we were a little bit too amped for the first quarter, and then we calmed down a bit," Onsetad said. "Credit to Davis – it was just a good game. It was great to have a home crowd, and I think that helped our team quite a bit."

The Bears' overall record this season is now 3-6 with their victory on Friday night, making the team's AE record 2-1.

UP NEXT
Cal heads back out on the road next week taking on America East foes Maine and New Hampshire. Cal takes on Maine on Friday, Oct. 7 at noon PT, they follow that up by taking on New Hampshire on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 9:00 a.m. PT.  

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