BERKELEY – Cal (0-2) nearly matched the pace of No. 8 Virginia (3-0) for the majority of the first half before the Cavaliers scored seven straight goals to turn a two-goal lead just before halftime into a nine-point advantage in an eventual 17-7 win over the Golden Bears on a warm and sunny afternoon at California Memorial Stadium.

Cal never led in its home opener but stayed within striking range of the Cavaliers throughout the first half. After falling behind 3-0 following a trio of Virginia goals in the first nine minutes, Quinnlyn Mason's back-to-back goals within less than a minute of each other on assists from Nikki Zaccaro and Catherine Roxas brought the Bears to within 3-2 with 17:06 to go in the first half.

Virginia would push its lead back to three goals again, 5-2, but the Bears picked up two of the next three scores and got to within 6-4 when Marisa Kuberra scored on Zaccaro's second assist of the game with 4:32 to go.

The Cavaliers' lead stayed at two until Sammy Mueller converted on assist from Riley Hoeg with 0:21 remaining in the first half to put Virginia up 7-4 at the intermission.

Virginia would break the game open early in the second half by registering the first six scores after halftime to go up 13-4.

Virginia's Ashlyn McGovern netted a game-high four goals for Virginia including the final two goals of Cavaliers' 7-0 run that ended with 21:42 remaining in the contest. Sammy Mueller added three goals and two assists for a game-high five points while a trio of Cavaliers – Nora Bowen, Courtlynne Caskin and Kiki Shaw – added two goals each with Bowen also registering a pair of assists. Lila Barker, Lillie Kloak, Taylor Regan and Olivia Schildmeyer each had a single goal for Virginia with Kloak adding an assist.

Mason's two goals led Cal, while Kuberra, Maryn Macha, Megan Mix, Susie Ropp and Ashley Ward had one each. Zaccaro's two assists led Cal, while Kuberra and Roxas contributed one apiece.

"Our offense definitely turned it around from Friday night [at UC Davis]," head coach Brooke Eubanks said. "They had some flow, they had some really good connections. We just need to keep working on that finishing piece. We had opportunities, [but] our shot percentage needs to go up a little bit. We just need to finish."

Makayla Ward had double-digit saves for her second consecutive start with 11.for the Bears, while Virginia's Charlie Campbell had 10 saves.

"Makayla had another solid game and made some great saves," Eubanks said.

Virginia held sizeable advantages in several team stats including shots (41-23), shots on goal (28-17), draw controls (15-10) and free position goals-shots (3-12, 0-3).

"It's a good check of where we are and what we need to work on against the best of the best," Eubanks said about playing the nation's eighth-ranked squad. "They're a top program. It shows us what we do well and what we need to continue to work on. It's great preparation for us as we hit the road. Our flow, our confidence and our consistency really improved today, so hopefully we can build upon that."

Cal starts a five-game road trip at Mercer on Friday (5 pm ET/2 pm PT).