Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific field hockey team rallied in the final seconds to upset California 2-1 Saturday afternoon at home for their conference opener. The Tigers improve to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the NorPac with the win.

Senior Kiddy Leubane (Capetown, South Africa) struck the first blow of the game. Diving for a cross pass on the right side from junior Sarah Miceli (Los Gatos, Calif.), Leubane sent the ball into the right corner behind the goalie for her second goal of the season putting Pacific ahead just eight minutes into play.

Both teams would battle for the ball in the field. Despite Cal, who is receiving votes for national ranking, getting six penalty corners to Pacific's two, the Golden Bears could not punch through the defense for the majority of the first half.

Freshman goalie Ashlee Schlesier (San Diego, Calif.) grabbed three saves off eight first half shots by Cal. She held the Golden Bears scoreless for over 34 minutes until Natalie Nurnberg beat her defender on the baseline and sent a ball into the far corner of the goal with 22 seconds remaining in the half.

The game continued to be deadlocked with both teams getting good looks at the goal in the second half. Cal nearly took the lead with 14 minutes to play when Kendra Bills took a shot just meters away from the goal. Schlesier made a diving save and sent the ball out of the circle to the left. She finished the game with five saves.

After Nurnberg sent Cal's last shot wide with 12 minutes remaining, the Tigers went on the offensive. Pacific called timeout with four and a half minutes on the clock and controlled the ball for the rest of the contest. A shot off the post helped set up a penalty corner for Pacific.

When the play broke down, the Tigers continued to press. Junior Kelly Perkins (Gilroy, Calif.) sent a pass down on the left side to senior Katy McDonough (Ventura, Calif.) who chipped it in just over the goalie for the win with 28 seconds left in the game.

Cal (2-2, 0-1 NorPac) called timeout but could not get into the circle for a shot before time expired. This is the Tigers first win over Cal since 2007.

Pacific will spend the next three games in Eastern Standard Time starting with Lafayette University on Sept. 17 in Easton, Pa. The contest is set to begin at 4 p.m. PST.