The Cal women’s soccer team is coming off a huge weekend against No. 3 UCLA and USC in which forward Lauren Battung called “the crossroads of the season.” The Bears tied the Bruins 0-0 on Friday and snapped their four-match winless streak with a 2-0 win against the Trojans on Sunday.
Player of the Week (1a): Taylor Comeau
Comeau, who was relatively silent for most of her freshman season, exploded onto the scene this weekend. The midfielder pulled full time for both UCLA and USC and was part of the midfield trio of Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick and Betsy Hassett that controlled the pace in both of the matches. In the USC match, she scored the second goal of the match when she volleyed a missed corner kick from outside the penalty box.
Player of the Week (1b): Emily Kruger
After allowing six goals in the last three contests, Kruger shined between the posts, making some impressive stops. In total, Kruger made nine saves this weekend to give the Bears two consecutive shutouts.
Surviving in the Benz-less World
Rachel Mercik seems to be growing into her role as the main scoring threat for Cal in the past few weeks. After scoring against Washington last weekend, she broke the goal drought in between in the 49th minute against USC with a header from a beautiful corner kick from Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick. She also contributed to several missed opportunities against the Bruins. With the skillful Lauren Battung out wide and Fitzpatrick and Betsy Hassett creating chances in the middle, don’t be surprised to see more goals from Mercik.
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