Aug. 21, 2009

Final Stats

BERKELEY - The California women's soccer team breezed past Nevada, 4-1, on Friday afternoon at Edwards Stadium. The Golden Bears are now 1-0-0 after winning the season opener for both squads while the Wolf Pack falls to 0-1-0. Junior forward Alex Morgan had three goals for the Bears and redshirt junior forward Lisa Kevorkian had one. Cal out shot UNR, 15-2, and 8-2 in shots on goal.

"I don't think that we were particularly hard to defend because we played very one-dimensionally - north to south," Cal head coach Neil McGuire said. "In the second half, we spread the field and used the width better, and as a result, we were able to create more opportunities on goal."

Morgan got the Bears on the board very early in the first half - just 5:23 into the game. Nevada keeper Marie Cove was drawn out of her post in goal to grab a ball but Morgan out powered her to gain possession and an open look on goal.

The teams went into the half with Cal holding a 1-0 lead, but that did not last long. Kevorkian scored the ultimate gamewinner in the 59th minute. With freshman forward Samantha Walker coming in with the assist, Kevorkian shot the ball in off a deflected block.

"Lisa's reading the line very, very well for us," McGuire said. "She's kind of a goal-a-game player. Sometimes it can be a first-class goal, and sometimes it can be off scrap."

From there, Morgan tacked on two goals - one at 61:15 and her third of the game and season at 71:33. To bring Cal's advantage to 3-0, Morgan received a pass from senior midfielder Katie Oakes. Junior defender/forward McKenna McKetty fed the ball to Morgan fro her third ball, again coming into the box.

"Morgan has to credit the service she received," McGuire said. "The first goal she worked for because she won the ball and scored. The rest of the goals she scored came from tremendous work from her teammates. That's what our offense is all about - whether it be Alex scoring the goal and receiving from her teammates or her passing to her teammates."

Nevada's Emma Rice scored a goal with just under eight minutes remaining in the game, winning a 1-v-1 battle with freshman keeper Lauren Hein.

The Bears earned 10 corner kicks to Nevada's one. Senior keeper Gina Pellegrini was credited with the win, with 60 minutes spent between the posts against the Wolf Pack. Overall, Nevada did not force the Cal keepers to make one save in the 90 minutes of play. Morgan led the Bears with four shots on goal.

Cal next travels to Portland for a nonconference match-up on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.