Cal on fire: Consecutive wins against St. Mary’s, UC San Diego
The blue and gold traveled to Moraga, California, on Aug. 25 to snap St. Mary’s’ three-game winning streak in a match that ended in a 2-0 win. With the return of Ayo Oke and Teagan Wy, the latter of whom played with the U.S. U-20 National Team at the U-20 World Cup, the Bears were able to gain their first win of the season.
Ever since the Bears tied the Gaels in last year’s match, the former severely tightened defenses. Angelina Anderson, 2019’s Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year, made a total of two saves, placing her at fourth place on Cal’s all-time shutout list. Anderson is the first player in the conference to win both Freshman and Goalkeeper of the Year.
Although the Bears had numerous opportunities to score, the blue and gold did not make their shot until the 69th minute when Mia Fontana struck a cross to the middle that was merely touched by goalkeeper Taylor Poland then kicked into the net by Karlie Lema.
Forward Alexis Wright scored the second goal of the game as well as her first goal of the season eight minutes after Lema scored. Poland was able to touch the ball again, but Wright’s strength was just too much for Poland to stop.
On Aug. 28, the Bears played UC San Diego. Last year during their 2021 season opener, the Bears took on the Tritons for the first time since 1987 and dominated with a score of 3-0. This season was no exception as the Bears extended UCSD’s four-game losing streak with a final score of 2-1.
The fourth minute of the game saw midfielder Camryn Borg score the first goal of the season for the Tritons. Borg took the shot after Kennedy Carter’s shot was blocked by Cal and rebounded toward Borg, who then fired the ball into the net.
Although Cal dominated the game with a 15-5 lead in shots and 8-2 shots on goal, its first goal was scored seconds before halftime by Keely Roy when Cal was granted a penalty kick. The penalty kick was given after Amaya Gray was brought down by Sydney Collins’ long free kick into the box.
Throughout the game, it was clear that UCSD’s defense was good as the Tritons deflected several of the Bears’ shots and the goalkeeper had impressive saves — but the team was unable to play offensive and catch up to the Bears once they got ahead
As the clock wound down, Roy scored her second goal in the 81st minute, triggering an immense roar from the crowd as Cal took the lead. Roy is now the leading scorer for this season thus far, contributing a total of three goals for the team.
“It’s surreal. I’m just so excited to be a part of this team,” Roy said. “I think we have something special, and to be able to contribute to that and the congratulations from my team and their support — it just means the world to me.”
The Bears will face San Francisco on Thursday, Sept. 1 at the Negoesco Stadium and will return to Edwards Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 4 to compete against undefeated Pepperdine. Pepperdine was ranked No. 14 in the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Rankings in August and is expected to be one of Cal’s toughest opponents along with UCLA and Stanford.
Cal will finish the season with its rival school, Stanford, at Edwards Stadium on Friday, Nov. 4.
Jovana Camberos covers women’s soccer. Contact her at jcamberos@dailycal.org.