BERKELEY – The California lacrosse team had its two-game win streak stopped on Sunday with a 19-9 loss to Colorado in a Pac-12 contest at California Memorial Stadium.
The Golden Bears (5-11, 2-7 Pac-12) fell behind 6-1 early but scored three straight goals to close their deficit to two and stayed within striking distance for most of the first 30 minutes and halfway into the third period. But Colorado (8-7, 6-3) turned a 12-8 halftime advantage into a decisive lead when Charlie Rudy, the Pac-12's leader in goals and points scored, scored at 7:25 and 2:45 to go in the third quarter to start a 6-0 rally by the Buffaloes. Cal finally got on the board in the second half on
Mya Wang's free position shot with 4:43 remaining in the game, but it was too little and too late.
Rudy finished with seven points on four goals and three assists.
Maya Lawliss led Cal with three goals, while
Kennedy Mason had a pair and
Quinnlyn Mason also scored two points on a goal and the Bears' lone assist. Wang,
Amanda Morse and
Josie Lillquist each scored a single goal.
Cal's strong draw control game kept the Bears close, especially in the first half. At one point, Cal held a 14-2 lead in draw controls and ended the game with a 19-11 advantage. Cal spread the wealth in draw controls with
Kennedy Goss,
Kalena Johnson and
Courtney Wong picking up five apiece. Cal's draw control team also held Zoe McElhaney, who entered the game ranked second in the Pac-12 in draw controls, to only one.
Colorado assisted on nine of its 19 goals compared to Cal's single assist and also had stronger numbers in most other team statistical categories including shots (40-25), shots on goal (28-15), clear attempts (18-18, 10-14), ground balls (21-11) and caused turnovers (7-2). Cal totaled 19 turnovers, while Colorado had eight. Each team made three free position shots with the Buffaloes' getting theirs on nine attempts and the Bears on eight.
Riley Drullinger (10 goals allowed, 3 saves, 23:21) and
Alicia Souliotis (9 GA, 6 SV, 36:39) both played in the cage for the Bears after Drullinger had a career-high 18 saves while seeing all 60 minutes of action on Friday against Oregon.
Sunday's contest was dedicated to Title IX as part of Cal Athletics' year-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and retired UC Berkeley Professor of Anthropology Meg Conkey was honored during a halftime ceremony. Named as one of the "50 Most Important Women in Science", Conkey currently serves as the co-chair of the University's "Gender, Equity, and Diversity" committee and is the Faculty Fellow for Cal lacrosse. Cal players, coaches and staff also wore Title IX t-shirts during warm-ups and on the sideline.
Cal will next welcome Stanford (9-7, 7-2 Pac-12) to California Memorial Stadium on Senior Day in its regular-season finale on Friday, April 28. The game is scheduled to be televised live by Pac-12 Bay Area with the first draw scheduled for 3 p.m. PT.
Cal will also host the six-team Pac-12 Championship for the first time on May 3-6. The Bears are locked into the No. 5 seed for the event and will open with No. 4 seed Arizona State (5-11, 3-6 Pac-12) in one of the two quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 3. Game times for both Wednesday's quarterfinals and Thursday's semifinals will be 4:30 and 7 p.m. with the participants to play at each time yet to be established. Saturday's finals will begin at Noon.
