Early Deficit Proves Too Large for Cal in Loss at Stanford
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| FIELD HOCKEY | |
| Cal | 2 |
| Stanford | 4 |
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Category: Sports > Fall > Field Hockey
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Comments (STANFORD -- Everything that went right for the Cal field hockey team in the second half went wrong in the first half.
The Bears outscored, outshot and out-cornered Stanford for the final 35 minutes of Friday's game at Varsity Turf Field. But making up for the mistakes in the first half that led to a 3-1 halftime deficit was too large a task against the most potent offense in the conference.
Despite the fact that Cal earned nine shots and seven corners after the half, it only chipped away at the Cardinal's lead garnered through 10 shots and 5 corners in the first half.
"We slept through the first half," Onstead said after the 4-2 loss. "I was mad. At this point in the season, that isn't acceptable."
It's been the same story all season. Penalty corners are the barometer for the Cal offense. And corner conversion is something the Bears have made a focus, as of late.
It's also something that didn't prove effective in Friday's contest.
"We ended up with seven corners and we misplayed three of them," Onstead said. "At this point in the season, you can't mess up a trap. You can't mess up a pass. They've done thousands of these, so it's not OK."
The 4-2 loss denied Cal the top seed in the NorPac tournament for the first time in four years. With a win at home over the Cardinal and a loss at Stanford, this season is shaping up to be all too similar to last year.
And last season ended with the Bears' early exit from the postseason.
But before they can focus on the NorPac Tournament or any run in the NCAA tournament, they have one more task left in the regular season.
"I don't want to say that we never won a game on the road," Erin Magill said. "We just want to get that monkey off our back."
With nine road games on the books, Cal is still without a single win away from Berkeley. Sunday's game against UC Davis is their last opportunity to prevent an 0-10 road record.
And Onstead is taking no chances with another road match.
The Bears are leaving Saturday afternoon to spend an extra practice day in Davis to acclimate to the Aggies' slow, long-bladed turf.
Contact Caroline Ogawa at cogawa@dailycal.org.
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