STANFORD -- California field hockey turned in 13 shots on goal and battled to a one-goal deficit in the final two minutes, but the Golden Bears fell just short at Stanford, 3-2.

The Bears forced Stanford goalkeeper Kelsey Bing to make 11 saves, and Katrina Carter and Melina Moore each found the back of the cage. Carter's goal was her second in three games, and Moore scored her fourth goal of the season.

Cal finished the game with a 20-13 lead in shots and 13-7 lead in shots on goal, owning the offensive advantage for much of the second half. Danielle Mentink played 65 minutes in the cage, tallying four saves.

Corinne Zanolli put Stanford on the board in the fourth minute, successfully sending a shot into the left side of the goal at 3:16.

In the 28th minute, Stanford drew a penalty corner and Zanolli took a shot toward the corner of the cage. Nina Randolph got her stick on the incoming shot to help deflect it in, giving the Cardinal a 2-0 lead.

Stanford's lead was short-lived when Carter dribbled the ball into the circle from the right side, following it all the way through past a pair of defenders and a skidding goalkeeper to launch it into the empty cage.

Though Stanford took the 2-1 lead into halftime, Cal owned the advantage in shots, 7-5, and corners, 3-1, and forced Bing to make three saves.

After halftime, Cal put the pressure on the Stanford defense from the jump, turning in 13 shots with nine on goal in the final 35 minutes.

"One of the conscious things we're talking about is starting the in the second half better than the first. It was great. They were more engaged and got energy off each other, and made a few better decisions," said head coach Shellie Onstead. "Once we got them on the back foot, we were able to keep them on the back foot, and usually that pays off."

The Cardinal regained a two-goal lead when Zanolli scored her second goal of the day, dribbling around the Cal defense and launching the ball into the cage with no help.

A foul in the circle in the 67th minute paved the way for Cal's second goal when Moore successfully converted a penalty stroke to make it 3-2 Stanford.

Down just one goal with a little more than two minutes to play, Cal continued to fight but fell short to give the regular-season series to Stanford.
 

HEAD COACH SHELLIE ONSTEAD'S TAKE

I'm really proud of our effort. The stats will show a pretty complete game and we fought right to the end.

We have got to solve the fact that we give up a goal in the first five minutes of a game. If we do that, we're going to be fine. We put in a few things today that were new, and it worked great. All I was really hoping for was a W for a confidence and momentum build, but I told them before the game to focus on those things. We're on track for what we need to do for the conference tournament.

I thought they played really well, it just wasn't quite well enough. Kelsey Bing is an exceptional keeper, and even for an exceptional keeper she had a career day.

I'm pretty pumped for the next game because we're playing really well, and you have to think that eventually things are going to fall into place.
 

NEXT UP

California looks to split its series with Pacific when the Bears host the Tigers on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. Sunday's action marks the end of the regular season for Cal, and the Bears will honor their seniors with a Senior Day ceremony.