SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In an early season matchup of NCAA Tournament contenders, No. 10 Santa Clara women's soccer lost to Cal by a final of 2-1 in overtime. The loss puts the Broncos at 1-1-0 on the season while the Bears are 2-0-0.
Santa Clara returns to the field Fri., Aug 29 at 7 p.m. vs. Florida International.
"We played much better today than we did on Friday but sometimes results and performance don't go together," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "Credit to Cal who was a little better than us today. Andi played very well in goal for us today but the difference was Onumonu. Her speed and ability drew two penalty kicks today. We moved the ball better today and scored a quality goal so there are some things to be optimistic about for our attacking play. We were unable to find the second goal today but Cal was."
Santa Clara was outshot by Cal 19-7 and shots on goal were 9-5 in favor of the Bears. Kat McAuliffe scored the Broncos goal on an assist from Jenna Roering. Andi Tostanoski picked up seven saves in net including stopping a penalty kick in the early going.
In the 10th minute Cal was awarded a penalty kick when Ifeoma Onumonu was taken down in the box. Guro Bergsvand attempted the shot but Tostanoski came up with a beautiful save to keep the game scoreless.
The Broncos took a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute on a beautiful run from Roering. She ran down the right side of the field and into the box where she sent a low pass into the middle for McAuliffe who finished the play for her first goal of the season.
Just out of halftime Cal earned a free kick from near midfield. The goalkeeper sent the ball into the box and a header by Annia Mejia hit the crossbar to keep Santa Clara on top by one.
Santa Clara outshot Cal 5-4 in the first half with the Broncos holding the edge in shots on goal 3-2. Tostanoski picked up two saves in the opening half.
Samantha Witteman tied the score at 1-1 in the 64th minute on an assist from Mejia. Cal used a series of passes to get the ball in front of the goal and Witteman was able to tap in the easy score.
Cal maintained the offensive pressure for most of the second half but was unable to put in another goal and the game went to overtime tied at 1-1.
Onumonu was taken down in the box to draw her second penalty kick of the match in the 93rd minute. Lorin Holm converted the chance to give Cal the 2-1 overtime win.
