California picked up the biggest win since Neil McGuire took over as women’s head coach on Sunday when the Golden Bears knocked off No. 1 Santa Clara, 2-0, on the road.
Cal stunned the previously unbeaten Broncos with two first-half goals. Freshman forward Alex Morgan broke open a scoreless duel with her fourth goal of the weekend, and junior Nikki Schrey scored her first goal of the season with five minutes left in the first half.
Morgan had a hat trick in a 4-0 win over Saint Mary’s on Friday and would have had a fourth goal if her shot had not his the post.
“Alex produced a spark that we needed this time of the season,” said McGuire. “She scored some very nice goals over the course of the weekend, but she couldn’t have done it without her teammates.”
Morgan scored the first goal at Santa Clara when she received a ball over the top from Cal goalkeeper Gina
Pellegrini, got behind the defense and blasted a low shot to the far post
“I am very proud of the girls,” said McGuire, who came from Texas Tech to replace Kevin Boyd in the spring. “I think it was well deserved. We played as well as we have played all season against a very good Santa Clara team. We have to keep this in perspective as we have a long conference season ahead of us. We have to use this as a catalyst for more success. The girls have always believed in themselves. The fact that we’ve lost two games has never concerned me because the team has an ability to recognize how good they are. We’re going to continue to work hard.”
Santa Clara played without eight players out due to injury. Already playing with a short bench, SCU also lost starters Courtney Lewis and Lindsey Johnson to injury following the team’s match on Friday at Cal Poly. Freshman Maxine Goynes got her first career start in place of Johnson, while Tina Estrada moved to midfield for Lewis and Lexi Orand got the start at forward.