For the first time this season, Cal women’s soccer failed to score a goal.
However, the team did not allow one either, resulting in a a 0-0 tie that extended the Bears’ undefeated streak to nine games and gave the squad its best start in over a decade.
The No. 11 Bears (6-0-3) recorded their third tie of the young season against Utah (4-1-5) on Friday. The faceoff at Ute Field in Salt Lake City was Cal’s first Pac-12 test this year. The match ended in a scoreless stalemate, with defense dominating the day to extend Cal’s undefeated run. The Bears’ prevous, longer undefeated streak was 12 games in 2000.
Though neither team was able to rally much of an offensive effort, Utah did manage to outshoot the Bears in the first half, five shots to three. The Utes also managed to rally more corner kicks than the Bears, with three set chances from the flank compared to the Bears’ zero.
Cal turned things around in the second half, however, and gained an offensive upper hand. The Bears turned the tables on Utah, notching five shots to the Utes’ three. In the closing minutes of regulation, the Bears got their best chance of the match as sophomore forward Ifeoma Onumonu sent a rocket toward the net. But it clanged off the crossbar, dashing Cal’s hopes of a last-minute edge. Neither team was able to put the ball in the back of the net in the final seconds of the game, and the regulation period ended scoreless. Overtime ensued, during which the Bears sent two more shots toward the net. These two brought the total shot count to 10, nearly five fewer than the Bears’ average shots per game.
Ute goalkeeper Lindsey Luke saved Cal’s two overtime shots, and the game remained scoreless as the clock inched toward the 110-minute mark. The final whistle blew, forcing both teams to relinquish hopes of snagging the win and resigning them to tie.
With hopes of further extending their undefeated streak, the Bears will take the pitch again back in the Bay when they face San Francisco at Monday night’s 7:00 p.m matchup at USF’s Negoesco Stadium. The game is Cal’s final scheduled nonconference matchup of the season. The Dons (5-3-2) have won only one of their last five games and are struggling to generate offense, scoring only two goals in that span. Though San Francisco hosted the Bears at its tournament earlier this season, the two teams did not face each other.
In the previous faceoff between the Dons and the Bears, Cal defeated San Francisco 3-0. All three of last year’s goal scorers — Onumonu, Grace Leer, and Mekenna DeBack — returned to the Bears this season and are surely eager for another crack at the cross-Bay foes.
While the Dons have garnered a respectable record thus far this season, they have struggled to put numbers up on the scoreboard. The team averages approximately 11 shots per game, but averages fewer than than one goal a game. In contrast, the Bears are averaging nearly 15 shots and 2.2 goals per game.
If such trends continue, the Bears should have a clear upper hand heading into Monday evening’s game.
Taylor Brink covers women’s soccer. Contact her at [email protected].