Cal Finishes Off Davidson, 14-10
from press release
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Tara Arolla scored a
career-high seven points to lead California to a 14-10 victory over
Davidson on Sunday at Richardson Stadium. Vail Horn added four
goals and Megan Takacs contributed three goals and one assist for
the Golden Bears, who improved their record to 3-2 after the
nonconference victory. Davidson fell to 0-4.
Cal head coach Theresa Sherry was pleased with her team's
performance after a loss two days ago at Longwood.
"The No. 1 thing was finishing our opportunities, which we focused
on yesterday," Sherry said. "We were shooting to score, not just
put it on the cage. Right off the bat, we went up 3-0. From there
we worked on consistency, instead of trading goals and giving up
easy opportunities to the other team. I was very happy with our
ability to fight through and finish with a win."
Takacs, a sophomore midfielder, scored twice - at 1:15 and 2:30 of
the first half - during the early going. Arolla, a junior attacker,
notched a goal at 1:42.
Cal never trailed in the game, though the Wildcats forged a 4-4 tie
on Jenna Mugele's goal at 8:13. The Bears went on a 4-0 run -
including two goals by Arolla (8:55 and 12:14), and one goal each
from sophomore midfielder Melissa Humphrey (13:38) and Horn (16:29)
- to claim an 8-4 lead.
Mugele, who paced Davidson with three goals, scored at 17:43 to
make the score 8-5. Cal took that lead into halftime.
The Wildcats outscored Cal, 2-1, early in the second half to come
within two goals of the Bears at 9-7. Horn scored the first goal of
the half at 34:07.
That was the closest the host team would come to Cal the rest of
the way.
The Bears scored the next three goals - with strikes by Arolla
(37:59 and 38:32) and Takacs (38:10) - to take a 12-7 lead, and Cal
maintained a four- or five-goal lead the remainder of the game.
Senior goalkeeper Allie Shropshire made nine saves in 60 minutes
of work, while the Wildcats' Jessica Melby made 10 saves.
Arolla scored three of her goals on free-position shots. With her
scoring outburst today, she took over sole possession of the team's
scoring lead with 16 points (13 goals, 3 assists) on the season.
Takacs is second with 15 points (11, 4), while Horn is third with
12 points (11, 1).
"Tara was great," Sherry said. "She really showed up today, whereas
on Friday she disappeared a little bit. She finished her
eight-meter opportunities and was a threat for us as a feeder and
goalscorer today on the attack. She really kept the whole group in
check."
Cal next plays on March 11 against 2010 NCAA runner-up Northwestern
in Evanston, Ill.
