Cal women beat Texas

BERKELEY – The No. 14 California women’s soccer team outlasted No. 25 Texas, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon at Edwards Stadium on the closing day of the 15th Annual Cal Invitational. The Golden Bears took a 1-0 lead into the halftime and went on 3-0 scoring run in less than six minutes to extend their advantage to 4-0. Cal improves to 3-1-0 overall with the win and Texas drops to 1-3-0.

“We had two great wins for the program this weekend,” Cal head coach Neil McGuire said. “I think, after the Portland loss, the players were probably questioning if they had what it took so we needed this. It was great for them to rebound to beat A&M and then come out and defeat Texas is just great.”

Senior defender Brianna Bak scored the first goal in the 22nd minute immediately following a corner kick. The goal was Bak’s first of the year.

“Lauren Battung did a really good job sealing off the near-post player,” Bak said. “I was there and tapped it in.”

The teams went into the halftime break with the Bears leading, 1-0. Less than five minutes into the second half, sophomore defender/forward Miranda White extended Cal’s lead with a goal off a suburb cross from redshirt junior forward Lisa Kevorkian.

Just minutes later, at 53:02 Alex Morgan scored with a shot to the top-left corner off a pass from sophomore midfielder Katrin Omarsdottir. Just under three minutes following, senior midfielder Katie Oakes fired in a goal with Morgan coming in with the assist.

Texas’ Courtney Goodson scored two goals – one at 68:01 and the other at 76:02 – get the Longhorns on the board. The final 13 minutes of play went without another goal, giving Cal the final 4-2 victory.

The Bears outshot the Longhorns, 8-7. Senior keeper Gina Pellegrini made one stop in 90 minutes of play for Cal. Morgan led the Bears with three shots and two assists.

Cal had four players named to the all-tournament team: Brianna Bak, Lisa Kevorkian, Alex Morgan and Katie Oakes.

The Bears will next take on Portland State in Berkeley on Friday, Sept. 11 at 1:30 p.m. as part of the Saint Mary’s Tournament before making the short trip to Moraga to take on SMU on Sunday, Sept. 13 at noon.


15th Annual Cal Invitational All-Tournament Team:

Rachael Balaguer – Texas A&M

Brianna Bak – California

Courtney Goodsen – Texas

Lisa Kevorkian – California

Tara Larson – Saint Mary’s

Alyssa Mautz – Texas A&M

Jessica Menzhuber – Saint Mary’s

Alex Morgan – California

Katie Oakes – California

Leah Payne – Texas

Rachel Shipley – Texas A&M

Christina Tognetti – Saint Mary’s