Oct. 13, 2011

Friday, Oct. 14
7 p.m. - No. 18 Cal (9-3-2, 2-1-2 Pac-12) at Arizona (1-10-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12)
Murphey Field at Mulcahy Stadium - Tucson, Ariz.
Series Record with the Wildcats: 13-1-2
Last Meeting: L, 1-0 in Tucson, Ariz. (Oct. 22, 2010)

BERKELEY - The No. 18 California women's soccer team travels to Tucson, Ariz. to meet Arizona for a 7 p.m. match on Friday at Murphey Field at Mulcahy Stadium. The Golden Bears, who earned a tie with No. 2 UCLA and posted a 2-0 victory over USC last weekend, are 9-3-2 overall with a 2-1-2 mark in the Pac-12 Conference. They come into the weekend sixth in the league standings with eight total points. Arizona owns a record of 1-10-2 overall and 1-3-1 in the conference, good for ninth place.

Cal in the National Rankings
California is ranked No. 18 in the latest TopDrawerSoccer.com national poll and No. 25 in the Soccer Times rankings released this week. The Bears are also receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) and Soccer America polls. Call climbed as high as No. 11 in the national rankings (TopDrawerSoccer.com) during the week of Sept. 19-25.

Bears Getting Offensive
California has scored 34 goals in its 14 matches and is out-scoring its opponents 34-13 overall. The Bears are tied for 23rd nationally in scoring offense with an average of 2.43 goals per game. Cal has scored four or more goals in four matches this season and has produced six or more goals in a game twice in 2011 (7-0 vs. North Dakota State and 6-1 at San Francisco). Cal ranks second in the Pac-12 in points (6.86), goals (2.43) and assists (2.00).

Kruger Solid Between the Posts
Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Kruger has started all 14 matches for the Bears with a 0.95 goals-against average and four shutouts on the year. The sophomore net minder played the entire match between the posts to record the shutout against Hawaii, Long Beach State, UCLA and USC. She played the first 45 minutes of Cal's 7-0 victory over North Dakota State and all but 42 seconds due to injury in the 1-0 win against Arizona State, but NCAA rules require goalkeepers to play the full match to receive credit for a shutout.

McGuire Climbs Victory Chart
With nine victories this season head coach Neil McGuire now has 54 career wins in his fifth season with the Golden Bears. McGuire's last win against USC last Sunday moved him past Andy Bonchonsky (1991-96) and into third place on the school's all-time coaching victories list. He owns a 54-32-10 career record at Cal.

Hot Start
The 2011 Golden Bears became the fastest to reach eight victories since the 2001 team, which also opened the year with eight victories in its first nine matches. It was the best start for Cal in the Neil McGuire era.

Winning Streak Ends at Eight
The Golden Bears had their eight-match winning streak come to an end with a 3-0 setback at No. 21 Santa Clara on Sept. 25. The eight consecutive victories was the longest winning streak since 2000 when Cal opened the season with eight-straight wins. The Bears defeated San Diego State (2-1 in OT), North Dakota State (7-0), Hawaii (3-0), Kent State (5-1), Denver (4-2), Long Beach State (2-0), San Francisco (6-1) and Arizona State (1-0) during the streak. The lost to Santa Clara was Cal's first defeat since Aug. 19.

Leading Scorer Lost for Season
Cal senior forward Katie Benz suffered a season-ending injury in the Santa Clara match on Sept. 25. The Sonoma, Calif. native led the Pac-12 Conference and was in the top-five nationally in scoring at the time of her injury. She recorded 10 goals and three assists in the 10 matches she played in this season. Benz played a scoring role in each of the first eight matches on the year with a goal in seven-straight contests prior to her injury.

Last Week on the Pitch
California posted a pair of shutouts, earning a scoreless draw with No. 2 UCLA and a 2-0 victory over USC last weekend at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley.

The Golden Bears snapped the Bruins seven-game winning streak and held them without a goal for the first time all season in last Friday's contest.

Despite the absence of a goal by either team, action was intense throughout. UCLA held a 16-15 edge in shots, including four in each overtime period. Defender's Danielle Brunache and Emi Lawson played a key role in keeping the Bruins off the scoreboard throughout the match. Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Kruger posted four saves for the third-straight match en route to her third shutout of the season.

The Bears were on the attack early with an 8-1 advantage in shots after the first period.

Four minutes into the second half, Cal freshman Taylor Comeau sliced through the defense and fired a shot from the top of the box that nearly snuck past a diving UCLA goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland. The ball bounced off the goalie and danced on the goal line before being corralled by Rowland.

With one minute remaining in regulation, Cal was on the attack again. Betsy Hassett fed Lauren Battung and the junior worked past the defense to get some free space, but her shot was just wide of the near post.

The scoreless draw ended the Bears' six-match losing streak the Bruins. It was the first tie between the two schools in the 18-match all-time series.

Comeau and sophomore Rachel Mercik each scored for Cal en route to a 2-0 shutout victory over USC last Sunday.

Less than three minutes into the second period, Cal capitalized on a corner kick opportunity for its first goal. Sophomore Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick served the ball into the box right to Mercik, who headed it in for the score at the 47:40 mark.

The Bears benefited off a corner kick once again to extend their lead to a pair of goals a little over 10 minutes later. Thelma Bjork Einarsdottir served the ball into the box where a crowd bounced it around. It was eventually ricocheted out to a waiting Comeau, who drilled a shot from 25 yards out right into the back of the net for her first career goal.

Kruger had another strong game between the posts with a pair of saves. California out-shot USC, 17-10, as Hassett led the way with four and Mercik was right behind with three.

It was the Bears' first victory over the Trojans since 2005, snapping a four-match losing streak. The schools posted a scoreless tie during the 2006 season.

Next Week on the Pitch Cal will play its final two regular-season games at Edwards Stadium in 2011 when the Bears host Colorado next Friday (Oct. 21) at 3 p.m. and Utah next Sunday (Oct. 23) at 1 p.m.

A Look at Arizona
Arizona enters the weekend 1-10-2 overall and 1-3-1 in the Pac-12 Conference. The Wildcats' lone victory of the season came at home against Oregon (1-0) last Friday. The schools have two common opponents in 2011 in Pepperdine and San Diego State. Cal defeated San Diego State, 2-1, while Arizona dropped a 2-0 decision. The Bears and Wildcats both suffered 2-0 setbacks to Pepperdine. Arizona has scored six goals in its 13 matches this season with juniors Alex Smith and Jessica Culver leading the way with three points apiece. Senior Ashley Jett has played all 13 matches in goal for the Wildcats with a 1.89 goals-against average.

Last Meeting Against Arizona
The game's first goal wasn't scored until the final 40 seconds of the first overtime period with Arizona finding the back of the net on its 25th shot of the contest to defeat California, 1-0, at Mulcahy Stadium.

After 90 complete minutes, the squads traded shots in the overtime period. Arizona had two, both of which went wide left. Katie Suits and Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick both had shots that UA keeper Ashley Jett saved, and one from Genessee Daughetee that went wide left. At 99:20, Shannon Heinzler took a direct shot on goal from outside the box for her first goal of the season and the first goal of the game.

The Wildcats narrowly outshot the Bears at 13-12. Arizona also held the corner kick advantage, 6-3. A total of 27 fouls were called altogether.

DeBack on the Daily - A Cal Women's Soccer Blog
Periodically though this season, sophomore forward Mekenna DeBack will be gracing CalBears.com with a blog entitled DeBack on the Daily.