Feb. 26, 2006

Box Score

BERKELEY, Calif. - The California lacrosse team broke out to an 8-3 halftime lead and survived a big Ohio State comeback to win a non-conference game, 12-11, on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon in Memorial Stadium. Junior Liz Reifsnyder scored two goals and two assists to lead the Golden Bears, who have now beaten the Buckeyes in three straight years. Cal improves its record to 2-1, while Ohio State falls to 0-2.

"It was very nerve-wracking," Cal coach Jill Malko said. "They're a team I felt that we should have done a better job of controlling the tempo against. The first 10 minutes were great. We followed the game plan and did what we needed to do, and then we got a little disheveled in the second half. Give them credit: They started in a different defense, and that sort of rattled us. And in the weather, we were making bad choices. Look at our turnovers: first-half turnovers two, second-half turnovers 11."

Ohio State's K.C. Carter led all scorers with five points (4 goals, 1 assist). The senior scored all five of her points during the Buckeyes' second-half surge.

Cal sophomore Danni Zuralow scored the first three goals on the day, which started out with an overcast sky. A heavy rain developed by the second half. The Bears scored the first six goals, including goals from senior Schuyler Sokolow, Reifsnyder and sophomore Cristen Andrews, before Ohio State's Kendall Gysin scored at the 23:49 mark to break the run and make the score 6-1.

"Danni scored some quick goals, and that was nice to see," Malko said. "On our team, you can't just assume by [last season's] stats that, 'Oh, we've got to stop Liz Reifsnyder and we've got to stop Laura Cavallo.' Danni's a great attacker."

Through three games, Reifsnyder holds the Cal scoring lead, with eight points (6 goals, 2 assists), followed by Zuralow, with seven points (6, 1), and Cavallo, with six points (5, 1). Last year, Cavallo was Cal's leading scorer (62 points), Reifsnyder was second (49) and Zuralow, in her freshman year, was seventh (17).

Reifsnyder opened the second half against Ohio State with her second goal, and freshman teammate Sam Price scored a goal in her third straight game, as Cal took a 10-4 lead. But the Buckeyes held Cal scoreless for the next eight minutes and 40 seconds and crept within 10-6 on goals by Carter and sophomore Kristen Slahor, who wound up with two goals and two assists for the game.

The Bears produced two of the next three goals on strikes by junior Jocelyn Paul and freshman Madeleine Dale, who scored her first career goal.

Ohio State shut out Cal the rest of the way, scoring the last four goals of the game over a span of seven minutes and one second. Carter scored twice during that stretch. Her last goal, which made the score 12-11, came with seven seconds remaining.

Cal concludes its four-game homestand against 13th-ranked Vanderbilt at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, at Memorial Stadium.

GAME SUMMARY
              	1	2	F
Ohio State	3	8	11
California	8	4	12

Ohio State Scoring
Goals: K.C. Carter 4, Kristen Slahor 2, Jessica Patane 1, Natale Miller 1, Kelly Kremer 1, Bethany Carey 1, Kendall Gysin 1. Assists: Kristen Slahor 2, KC Carter 1, Kristen Hannon 1, Kelyn Laws 1.

California Scoring
Goals: Danni Zuralow 3, Liz Reifsnyder 2, Jocelyn Paul 2, Sam Price 1, Laura Cavallo 1, Schuyler Sokolow 1, Cristen Andrews 1, Madeleine Dale 1. Assists: Liz Reifsnyder 2, Sam Price 1.

Goalkeeping
Ohio State: Kimberly Hastings, 16 saves, 12 GA. 60:00. California: Hilary Lynch, 9 saves, 11 GA, 60:00.

Yellow Cards
Ohio State: Danielle Gibson 22:22, K.C. Carter 29:17, Jessica Patane 39:32. California: Leanne Zilioli 9:55, Schuyler Sokolow 34:05, Paige Keffer 48:45.

Records: Ohio State 0-2. California 2-1 (1-0 MPSF).