Katie Benz had not scored a hat trick in awhile — since her high school playing days, to be exact.

Player of the Week: Katie Benz

After three years of limited playing time — a result of suffering injuries and playing behind star striker Alex Morgan — the senior forward finally got her chance and took full advantage by scoring three goals in the Cal women’s soccer team’s 4-2 victory over Denver on Sunday.

“She has come a long way,” coach Neil McGuire said. “She dealt with injuries early in her career and wasn’t where she wanted to be. She has matured beyond recognition since her freshman year, and she is now essentially our main striker.”

In addition to the hat trick on Sunday against the Pioneers, Benz scored one goal in Friday’s 5-1 drubbing of Kent State, tallying her goal count to eight in six matches this season. Her four goals this weekend totaled one more than the number of goals she scored in her first three years at Cal.

Despite averaging nearly four goals per game before Sunday, Cal (5-1) was very wary of Denver. The Pioneers, a powerhouse in the Sun Belt conference, were the likeliest of the visitors to spoil a Bears’ sweep of this weekend’s Cal Invitational.

And it seemed that premonition was about to come true in the first two minutes. In the second minute, forward Kristen Hamilton scored to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead. For the first half, Denver was the team in charge, outshooting Cal six to five.

But as seen in the past matches this season, the Bears proved to be a second half team. A little over one minute into the half, Benz tied the game from a cross from defender Miranda White. Seven minutes later, Benz blasted the second goal of the match to take the lead.

After the second goal, the Pioneers’ defense began to waver. Ultimately, the hesitations cost Denver another goal in the 63rd minute as forward Lauren Battung capitalized on Pioneers goalkeeper Lara Campbell’s gaffe — the ball bounced off her chest and landed right in front of a ready Battung.

Although Denver slimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the 71^st minute, the Pioneers failed to create the elusive tying goal. In the 85^th minute, their hopes were dashed when Benz scored her third goal from a long pass from midfielder Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick.

“Denver played their back line pretty high in the field, and I was just paying attention to where I was in relation to where the defensive line was holding,” Benz said. “Timing was the most important thing because you can get offsides really easily because of the defensive positions.”

Although Benz was the undoubted star of the weekend, Fitzpatrick was the unsung heroine in the midfield. In both the Kent State and Denver matches, Fitzpatrick played the undervalued — but highly important — role of midfield general, spreading the ball to all parts of the pitch and creating offensive chances from afar.

“I was just trying to play simply: trying to get the game going and finding forwards for them to score goals,” Fitzpatrick said.

Although the team was clicking on offense, the defense looked shaky at times, especially during the first 10 minutes of each match, when both Kent State and Denver scored goals.

“We will have to definitely look into it,” McGuire said. “But it’s a 90 minute game, and the thing we can be proud of is that we always recompose ourselves after conceding an early goal.”

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