Utah Holds No. 23 Cal to 2-2 Draw
BERKELEY, Calif. – For the second consecutive season, Cal’s meeting with Pac-12 foe Utah ended in a tie as the Utes battled the No. 23 Golden Bears to a 2-2 draw Friday afternoon on Goldman Field. Cal now stands at a 2-3-1 record in conference play and 10-4-1 overall.
The teams exchanged shots in the early goings of the first half before Cal went on the offensive attack, recording four consecutive shots in just as many minutes. The Bears, however, were unable to execute cleanly as Utah goalkeeper Lindsey Luke tallied three saves during the span.
Despite Cal’s 9-5 shot advantage in the first half, Utah jumped on the board first in the 29th minute with a close-range goal off a corner kick. Avery Jenkins took the corner and put the ball on frame, so Cal goalie Emily Boyd punched it sideways. With the ball still careening into the net, Sandra Ley attempted to clear it out with a header, but Megan Trabert trapped the ball and pushed it forward to drive the Utes ahead, 1-0.
The resilient Bears came back fighting after the half as Celeste Boureille netted her second goal of the season just two minutes into the half. Indigo Gibson, who tallied her second assist in three games, found an open Boureille at the top of the box and Boureille tapped it into the right corner.
Cal took hold of the lead at 58:35 with a beautiful breakaway goal by Grace Leer. Samantha Witteman got the ball at midfield and sent it forward to Leer, who was waiting in front of her and made a dash toward the net. She cut inside toward the net, placing it into the left of the frame. It was Leer’s second goal in the last three games.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Cal’s hot start to the second half diminished and Utah quickly capitalized with an equalizer in the 72nd minute. Jenkins was once again the instigator of a Ute goal, cross a ball from outside the box to Katie Rigby before Rigby propelled it to the right far post to send the game to overtime.
Though Cal created several more goal-scoring chances over the next 20 minutes, the Bears could not finish those chances, ending the game with their first draw of the season.
The Bears get nearly a week off before heading to Arizona to meet Arizona State Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
HEAD COACH NEIL MCGUIRE’S TAKE
McGuire says: In terms of the overall play, we played as well as we have in the last three or four games, so there were some really good pluses in regards to our style of play, our possession and our penetration. As far as our execution in the final third in terms of goal-scoring chances, we created way more goal-scoring chances than we took advantage of. We have to do a better job in that area. We limited (Utah) to one or two legitimate goal-scoring chances and we let in two goals. That has to improve. While there are a lot of positives, there’s also a lot to improve on.
We have to give credit to Utah who came in with a great game plan in taking away some of our threats. Coach Manning and his team performed very well today.
GOLDEN BEAR GOALS
48’ – Celeste Boureille (assisted by Indigo Gibson) – Crossed from Gibson at right side of field, tapped in near right post
Boureille says: Indigo sent a great ball in and I took a touch and finished it into the right corner.
59’ – Grace Leer (assisted by Samantha Witteman) – Witteman, at midfield, played the ball to Leer in front of her. Leer took it all the way down the field and placed it into the left side of the goal
Leer says: I got a great ball from (Witteman) who played me through. Our coaches were really big on the forwards getting wide the whole game, so that finally worked to our advantage. I made a run and I took it inside and cut to the inside of the goal, and I just knew I had to get it into the side netting.
UTAH GOALS
29’ – Megan Trabert (assisted by Avery Jenkins) – Jenkins took the corner, placing the ball on frame before Cal GK Emily Boyd punched it sideways, headed out by Cal’s Sandra Ley and then trapped into goal by Trabert
72’ – Katie Rigby (assisted by Avery Jenkins) – Jenkins crossed from outside the box to Rigby, who nailed it into the far right post post
NEWS & NOTES
- Cal is 10-4-1 overall and 2-3-1 in Pac-12 play.
- Cal is unbeaten against Utah with a 5-0-2 record in the all-time series.
- The Bears and the Utes have now tied in two consecutive meetings. Last season, the teams tied 0-0 in Salt Lake City.
- Celeste Boureille scored her second goal of the season. Grace Leer scored her fifth. Leer has scored two goals in the last three games.
- Indigo Gibson tallied her second assist in three games.
- Emily Boyd is 9-4-1 in goal.
NEXT UP
The Golden Bears kick off their final regular-season road tour with a two-game stint in Arizona. Cal will head to Tempe, Arizona, on Oct. 24, to take on Arizona State before facing Arizona on Oct. 26.
ON THE BOX SCORE
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 28:22 UTAH Trabert, Megan (2) (Jenkins, Avery) - Headed out by Cal 11, trapped into goal by Utah 18
2. 47:04 CAL BOUREILLE,CELESTE (2) (GIBSON,INDIGO) - Cross from 2 right side of field, tapped in near right post
3. 58:35 CAL LEER,GRACE (5) (WITTEMAN,SAMANTHA) - 26 at MF to 15 in front of her taken to goal hit into left of goal
4. 71:42 UTAH Rigby, Katie (3) (Jenkins, Avery) - 11 from outside box to 3 into right far post
Shots: Utah 13, California 20
Saves: Utah 6 (Luke, Lindsey 6), California 2 (BOYD,EMILY 2)