BOONE, N.C.  – Appalachian State University field hockey (1-6) slipped to the California Golden Bears 2-1 on Friday evening at the Brandon & Erica M. Adcock Field. Senior captain Jordan Van Cleave scored App's sole goal of the match, her first of the season.

“Today was a really competitive game,” said head coach Meghan Dawson. “ I thought that for the amount of shots they had on goal, Rachel Gaines did an awesome job in the cage for us to keep the ball out. Our last five minutes are how we need to play every game. We saw that we have the potential and we have to start expecting it out of ourselves every day and working harder in practice.”

California (2-5) attacked the board first scoring in the fifth minute of the match from a tipped ball by Janaye Sakkas assisted by Lindsay Mathison. 

After Cal had taken the quick 1-0 lead, Van Cleave matched the Golden Bear's charge with a goal of her own. The Kentucky native smashed the ball past the heels of Cal's goalie Kori Griswold in the seventh minute from a well-calculated strike toward goal from Taylor Cimbalist. Those two early goals were the only connections at the net in the first half.

Although Cal held the advantage is shots (6-2) and shots on goal (5-1) in the first half, their offense could not match up against the defensive wall put up by goalkeeper Rachel Gaines. Gaines rejected three of Cal's shots, and App collected one defensive save to keep the match even.

With the score tied up to start the second period, both squads were eager to send in the game-winning shot. California's Sydney Earle would answer the Golden Bear's call by firing in a goal in the 39th minutes.

Up by one, Cal continued to attack the net, but Gaines' killer instinct didn't allow the Bears to score again. In the second half, Cal presented nine shots on goal and the Ohio native swatted away six of them. Adding to the great backfield effort was Keighly Adams and Rebecca McLean who both stopped Cal's aggressions toward the goal with a defensive save a piece. 

In the last five minute of the match, the Mountaineers started to pick up the pace dishing out five shots with four on goal to try and even up the score, but time ran out, and the Golden Bears took the match 2-1.

Offense

In the first half, California dominated Appalachian's side of the field shooting six shots to App's two and holding the advantage in shots on goal 5-1. Also, the Golden Bears earned five corner opportunities, and App received none.

In the second half, App turned up the dial and shot the ball five more times, but Cal struck 11 shots and earned five more penalty corners to Appalachian's four. In total, the Golden Bears edged Appalachian in shots (17-7), shots on goal (14-5) and corners (10-4).

Defense

Gaines produced an outstanding performance Friday evening saving nine of Cal's drives on goal and playing for 70:00 minutes

Up Next

The Black and Gold will face off against their second ranked opponent of the season, No. 7 Louisville, on Sunday, Sept. 25 at the Brandon & Erica M. Adcock Field at noon.