FRESNO, Calif. – No. 5 UC Irvine (0-1) fell to No. 4 California (1-0) in the first game of the Bulldog Invitational.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>No. 5 UC Irvine outshot No. 4 California, 33-26
>12 Anteaters had shot attempts
>Faith Tedesco earned the start in goal, making four saves and added a steal
>Elena Flynn tied the game lead in goals, notching the hat-trick (3-6)
>Flynn and Libby Alexander both recorded six shots
>Jessica Lynch led the game in assists with two
>Kennedy East tallied one of the Anteaters two steals
>Olivia Giolas was able to draw two exclusions and score a goal
>No. 4 California was led by Maryn Dempsey, recording three goals on three shots, two assists, and one steal
>Two Golden Bear's notched hat-tricks
 
FIRST PERIOD
>Nioka Thomas scored the first goal of the season for the Anteaters at 7:15 to take the 1-0 advantage
>No. 4 California netted the game 1-1 at 6:56 on the power play opportunity
>Mica Schiavone fired two shots, both missing wide of the net
>A shot deposited in the net by Elena Flynn who was fed by Airian Grisham at 4:18 was sandwiched between two Cal goals, 2-3
>Flynn had another attempt and Gracie Helberg put one on frame but both were knocked down by the Cal goalkeeper
>After regrouping, the Golden Bears would grab the ricochet off the post to score at 1:51, 2-4

SECOND PERIOD
>After the sprint win from Kili Skibby, Flynn found the back of the net with help from Jessica Lynch, 3-4 (7:29)
>Cal answered the next trip down the pool at 7:05, 3-5
>No. 5 UC Irvine added their fourth goal on the one man advantage at 6:38 where Flynn found center Olivia Giolas who scored her first goal of her collegiate career, 4-5
>The Golden Bears were able to force the Anteaters to commit an exclusion to then convert on the power play at 6:10 and then again at even strength at 5:08, 4-7
>Skibby fed Libby Alexander in front of the net to close within two, 5-7 (3:22)
>After the UCI timeout, Lynch put the ball into the back of the net at 2:51 before the Golden Bears would place one in the goal 15 seconds later, 6-8
>UCI responded on their next possession where Brooke Banta received the ball from Lynch to score, 7-8 (1:55)
 
THIRD PERIOD
>Lynch fired off two shots, but they were both just wide of the cage
>No. 4 California would get the first goal of the period at 6:01 when they had the one man advantage, 7-9
>Cal strung together some plays at 3:05 and 2:20 to go up 7-11
>With 32 seconds remaining in the period, Helberg notched her second goal of the day, 8-11
 
FOURTH PERIOD
>No. 4 California scored two unanswered (7:43, 6:49), 8-13
>Flynn completed the hat-trick at 6:23 on her penalty shot attempt, 9-13
>After a Golden Bear timeout, Cal put it in the cage before Grisham beat the goal at 3:58 off the dish from Kennedy East, 10-14
>Cal would get the final goal of the game at 1:58, 10-15
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will finish the day out with a game against No. 8 Fresno State at 5:30 p.m.