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Cal field hockey defeats Davidson, finishes undefeated in conference
California scored six unanswered goals to top Davidson, 6-1, on Sunday at Kleeberger Field to finish the conference schedule undefeated at 5-0.
Davidson (6-12, 1-4 in NorPac) came out at the started of the match with an aggressive attack and a stifling defense that virtually created a human wall at one point to stop Cal’s leading scorer, Nora Feddersen, from advancing with the ball.
The Wildcats only score of the game came off a penalty corner when Davidson’s leading scorer Lea Jaeger took a set shot for a 1-0 lead.
Fighting winds of up to 25 miles at some points in the game, Cal bounced back and scored six straight goals as Stephanie Lyons scored on the Bears fourth penalty corner to knot the game at 1-1.
Cal (9-4, 5-0 in NorPac) scored one more goal before the intermission as senior defender Leslie Katch scored off of a rebound on a penalty corner. Erin Booth tipped the initial save and Katch was there to put it home for her third goal of the season.
“It really feels good to help out the team on offense,” said Katch. “Mainly I’m a defender, but, we’ve been working on having our defense come up and help out offensively. Even if they’re scored on corners, it’s just nice to contribute that way instead of just stopping the goals.”
In the second half, the Bears continued their offensive outburst on another corner as Feddersen faked a shot from the top of the circle setting up junior, Amber Stockstill who collapsed down towards the goal, putting Cal up, 3-1.
“I have to give the team some credit,” said coach Shellie Onstead. “I actually made one up (corner formation) on the fly and that’s the one that Amber Stockstill scored. I yelled to them what to do and they executed it perfectly.”
Harkins third assist came when she found a streaking Pooja Mehta who handled the pass and lifted the shot passed Davidson goalkeeper, Amanda Mordavsky.
“After they scored that first goal, we were upset because we’re conference champions and they’re up on us like right away,” explained Harkins. “So we decided that we had to get it back.”
