May 6, 2007
DAVIS, Calif. - Fourth-seeded California ended its season with an 8-7 loss to second-seeded Oregon in the third-place game of the MPSF Championship on Sunday afternoon at Aggie Stadium. The Golden Bears got three points each from senior attackers Liz Reifsnyder and Laura Cavallo, and senior teammate Hilary Lynch made 11 saves in 60 minutes, as Cal's record fell to 7-10. The Ducks' record improved to 12-7.
Down 4-2 at halftime, Cal outscored Oregon 5-4 in the second half.
"We played a great second half," Cal head coach Jill Malko said. "We settled into a break defense, played a great attack, but didn't have enough in the end. We had an opportunity. We had so many close games this year and couldn't pull it through. I think our team is much better than our record indicates."
The loss ended the Cal careers of redshirt junior defender Meghan Bushnell and five senior Bears: Reifsnyder, Cavallo, Lynch and defenders Kathryn Lindler and Jocelyn Paul.
"They have made such a big impact to our program," Malko said. "They contributed significantly as freshmen and through all their years at Cal. We're losing half of our starters. We'll be rebuilding year next year, but we do have a lot of young talent, with a lot of good freshmen and a good class coming in. We will miss these guys in so many ways and more than just on the field."
Reifsnyder scored two goals and collected one assist, while Cavallo tallied one goal and two assists. Cal sophomore attacker Madeleine Dale added two goals. Kate Fleming (3 goals) and Alison Leiner (1 goals, 2 assists) led Oregon with three points each.
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Cal outshot the Ducks, 24-22, though Oregon had the edge in ground balls, 21-19, and draw controls, 9-8.
Cavallo's goal at 5:39 in the first half gave Cal a 1-1 tie and gave her a new single-season career high in goals with 45 in 2007. Down 3-1, Cal crept closer with a Reifsnyder goal, from a Cavallo assist, at 22:39.
Brooke Dieringer scored the first of her two goals at 28:40 to give Oregon a 4-2 lead that it took into halftime.
Cal outscored Oregon, 4-2, to open the second half to tie the game at 6-6. Sophomore midfielder Ghillie Little (at 36:29), Reifsnyder (39:39) and Dale (43:59 and 49:04) scored during the Bears' run.
Dale notched both her goals against backup goalkeeper Sam Debow. Oregon starter Anna Poponyak returned after Dale's second strike.
Sarah McDonald (55:25) and Jen May (58:56) scored to give Oregon an 8-6 advantage, and junior Danni Zuralow scored an unassisted goal on Cal's last shot of the game at 59:12 to make the final score 8-7.
GAME SUMMARY
1 2 F California 2 5 7 Oregon 4 4 8
California Scoring
Goals: Liz Reifsnyder 2, Madeleine Dale 2, Laura Cavallo 1, Danni Zuralow 1, Ghillie Little 1. Assists: Laura Cavallo 2, Liz Reifsnyder 1.
Oregon Scoring
Goals: Fleming, Kate 3; Dieringer, Brooke 2; Leiner, Alison 1; May, Jen 1; MacDonald, Sarah 1. Assists: Leiner, Alison 2; van den Berg, Ilsa 1.
Goalkeeping
California: Hilary Lynch, 11 saves, 8 GA, 60:00. Oregon: Anna Poponyak, 10 saves, 5 GA, 54:50; Sam Debow, 0 saves, 2 GA, 5:10.
Yellow Cards
California: Mary Downs 00:39, Kathryn Lindler 10:29. Oregon: Alicia Burkhart 8:55, Kate Fleming 22:09, Ilsa van den Berg 38:24, Anna Poponyak 43:54.
Records
California 7-10. Oregon 12-7.
