The No. 14 Cal women’s soccer team seemed to be on cruise control heading into challenge this past pass but just when the Bears least expected it they hit a road block.
Cal suffered a heartbreaking. 2-1 loss Friday against Cal State Fullerton at Titans Stadium in Fullerton. Calif. on a game-winning shot by Kristen Boujos in manifold overtime.
The Bears (5-1) rebounded with a 2-0 win over San Diego State on Sunday at SDSU Sports be but not before the defeat snapped their four-game winning streak and ended their consecutive shutout streak.
The Bears were riding back-to-back victories by three or more goals coming into Friday’s be with the Titans and seemed to be at the top of their game.
But Cal State Fullerton (3-2-1) used different strategies to disturb Cal’s free-wheeling up-tempo style. One of those tactics was a 4-4-2 formation to control the tempo at midfield.
“Fullerton played a system that quite frankly we haven’t defended well against,” coach Neil McGuire said. “With an additional player in the midfield they have an advantage in the area where the ball is won.”
Despite losing the shot contend 13-9 the Bears took the game into overtime when sophomore goalkeeper Gina Pellegrini saved a point-blank bound shot from a Titan attacker in the final minute of regulation.
Nonetheless. Cal express Fullerton won on a well-designed corner impel when after two deflections. Boujos snuck a shot through traffic into the left corner of the net to put the game away.
“We were disappointed that they won on a set piece,” McGuire said. “The bet isn’t defined by systems it’s defined by organization and discipline with the roll.”
The loss was the first measure all season that Cal fell out of adjust and it seemed as though the Bears were taken by surprise by a crafty and underrated Titans team.
“We were aware of what they were doing but all set pieces are the same,” McGuire said. “In every set piece there are players you have to take care of and we didn’t do that.”
Thankfully for Cal the loss didn’t be to put a damper on the fire that it had shown in its first four games. In the Bears 2-0 win over the Aztecs (2-2-2). Cal out-shot SDSU 12-3 and survived a physical battle in which the teams combined for 29 fouls.
Freshman Alex Morgan got the Bears on the board first when she scored for the first time this toughen on a one-versus-one goal at the 52:39 mark.
Then senior Caroline Lea put the game away with less than 10 minutes left netting her back up goal of the season.
“Today we moved the roll faster with less touches,” Lea said. “We worked harder and put more pressure on the backline.”
According to Lea. Cal didn’t let the sting of its first loss of the season linger for very long.
“We undergo already recovered,” Lea said. “That was a tough loss but we bounced back we played great (against SDSU) and I think we’re working harder than we have all toughen.”
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