Feb. 26, 2002

BERKELEY, CA. - Sophomore Carley Preble scored the game winning goal at the 2:56 mark of the second half to lead the Golden Bears to a 9-8 decision over the Saint Mary's Gaels Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

Cal jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game's first 11minutes, sparked by senior captain Halsey Monger's goal and two assists in that span. After missing the first 10 minutes of play, the Gaels' Megan Bryan entered the game and made an immediate impact. Bryan scored her first of four first half goals, six on the day, at the 14:56 mark to put the Gaels on the board. Up 6-1 with 9:20 left in the first half, Cal was looking to cruise into halftime with the large lead. But Saint Mary's had different plans. The Gaels would go on a 4-1 run in the final 7:11 to go into the break down by only two goals, 7-5. In a half that was marked by multiple penalty calls, it was hard for either team to gain an offensive rhythm.

During halftime, head coach Jill Malko must have stressed the importance of defense because the Bears came out fighting and scrapping ... playing with more intensity while matching the physical play of the Gaels. In fact, the second half saw even more penalties and a few green and yellow cards thrown in for good measure. Senior midfielder Sarah Wheatley drew the assignment of shadowing Bryan in the second half, limiting her to two free position goals, one of them at the 20:02 mark cutting the Cal lead to just one, 7-6. Freshman Molly Brady recorded her first collegiate goal with 15:31 left on the clock, raising the Bears' lead to 8-6. With the score 8-7 and time winding down, Preble netted her first goal of the season to put the Bears up by two. It would be an important goal as Saint Mary's junior Thera Luce sent one past Bear goalie Eden Coelho with :55 left in the match to bring the Gaels within one. Another nice save by Coelho, one of six second half saves, and a clever game of keep away would thwart any additional offensive attack by the Gaels.

In addition to Brady's first collegiate point, freshman Andrea Gough also scored her first collegiate goal at the 9:20 mark of the second stanza. Goalkeeper Coelho notched 10 saves on the day with six of them coming in the second half.

Saint Mary's will return to action on Tuesday, March 5 when it travels to Stanford for a 4:00 p.m. game. Stanford defeated Saint Mary's 12-8 on February 19.

BOX SCORE: 1 2 F Saint Mary's 5 3 8 California 7 2 9

GOALS: Cal - Edwards 2, O'Mara 2, Preble 1, Queisser 1, Monger 1, Gough 1, Brady 1, Saint Mary's - Bryan 6, Spencer 1, Luce 1. ASSISTS: Cal - Monger 2, Wu 1,: Saint Mary's - Spencer 2, Davidge 1, French 1.

GOALKEEPING: (UC) Eden Coelho (60 minutes, 10 saves, 8 goals), (SMC) Megan Ceccotti (38:34 minutes, 3 goals), Katie Augustine (21:26, 6 goals).

SHOTS: SMC 21, UC 23, GROUNDBALLS: SMC 28, UC 16, FOULS: SMC 43, UC 21, TURNOVERS: SMC 16, UC 17, CAUSED TURNOVERS: SMC 11, UC 19, DRAW CONTROLS: SMC 6, UC 12