Berkeley, Ca. - A back-and-forth battle in the first half did not continue in the second, as California stifled the RMU offense to take a 12-7 victory on Monday night at California Memorial Stadium.
Sophomore
Clio Kerr led the Colonials in scoring, recording her second career hat trick with all three goals coming in the final 5:34 of the first half. Kerr now has seven tallies on the season. Senior
Dana Davis posted her first multi-goal outing of the year, bringing her season total to six goals.
Davis' first tally gave the Colonials a 1-0 lead with 26:07 to play in the first. Cal's Kirsten Swanson answered, tying the game 1-1 with 23:52 left in the half.
Meghan Crouse came back with her team-high 8th goal of the season, assisted by
Kelley Flynn to make it 2-1 Colonials with 18:54 to go in the first half, before Swanson netted her second, just 35 seconds later to make it a 2-2 game.
Marissa Kuberra scored to give Cal its first lead of the game, 3-2 with 15:30 to play in the half. Kate Mattimore and Eliza Christman then scored to complete a run of four consecutive Cal goals to give the Bears a 5-2 lead with 7:15 remaining in the first half.
That's when Kerr found another gear, lighting it up with her fifth goal of the season with 5:34 left in the half. Davis fired home her second of the game to cut the Bear lead to one, before Kerr struck again, this time off a feed from
Niki Grillon, tying the game at five apiece. RMU tallied three goals in 96 seconds to tie the game.
Before the end of the half, Cal would pull ahead again on a goal by Susie Ropp to make it a 6-5 Cal lead.
With just one second left in the first half, Kerr shot and scored to complete her second career hat trick and tie the game at six apiece headed into the intermission.
California won the first four draws of the second half and cashed in on several of those possessions. Christman scored back-to-back goals to open the second half. Caroline Corzel adds her first of the game to make it 9-6 Bears. Ropp and Corzel added their respective second goals of the game, helping Cal to an 11-6 advantage with 11:15 to play.
Sophomore
Melanie Gandy scored to pull RMU back within four with 10:35 to play in the game, breaking up a scoreless second half for the Colonials.
The Bears added one final tally with 7:03 to play, the fourth of the game for Christman, to cap the scoring at 12-7.
Robert Morris received eight saves by its goalkeepers, with sophomore
Katelyn Miller making six stops, four in the first half, also collecting a pair of ground balls, playing 44:42. Freshman
Mia Tornetta played the final 15:18 of the game, recording her first career save and finishing with two.
Cal won the draw control battle 14-6 and went 4-for-9 on free position shots, while RMU went 0-for-4. The Colonials put up a one-goal advantage in total shots 25-24, but Cal held a 20-12 lead in shots on goal.Â
Freshman
Madison Griffin collected three ground balls and earned a pair of caused turnovers, while sophomore defender
Madison Burke also picked up three ground balls to go with a draw control win.Â
The game marked the third time in program history that Robert Morris had faced a PAC-12 school, splitting the previous two contests with Oregon.
Robert Morris (2-4) continues its California cruise with a trek to face UC Davis at Aggie Stadium on Thursday, March 8, at 9:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 p.m. PT.
Robert Morris (2-4) vs. UC Davis (1-3)
Thursday, March 8Â //Â 9:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. PT)
Aggie Stadium // Davis, Ca.
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