California Irvine Athletics

BERKELEY, Calif. – The Anteaters dropped a top ten matchup to No. 5/5 California, 20-10, in a Sunday matinee.
 
No. 7/7 UC Irvine, who brought it within one score to start the second period, gave up 11 second half goals to the Golden Bears suffocating offense.
 
The Anteaters led by Madi O'Hara's three goals for her third hat-trick of the season.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Both Libby Alexander and Kennedy East contributed two goals in the contest
• Maja Layden, Sara Naulty, and Brooke Hourigan rounded out the scoring
• Layden alongside Pippa Heaver dished three assists apiece, a team-high
• Sophomore Rachel Kirchner played all 32 minutes between the pipes, stopping six shots and recording a game-best five steals
• Both sides went 6-9 (0.667) on power play chances
• No. 5/5 California was led by Julia Bonaguidi's four goals on five shots. Two other Golden Bears recorded hat-tricks.

 
SCORING BREAKDOWN

• First period: No. 5/5 California opened with three straight scores until the Golden Bears committed a foul which allowed Maja Layden to pass into Madi O'Hara (3:47) to get the Anteaters on the board. Cal put away two more scores to then O'Hara found the back of the net again with 58 seconds on the clock and Libby Alexander (0:14) registered to draw within 5-3.
  • O'Hara (2) and Alexander (1)
• Second period: Alexander kept dealing as she was fed the ball by Brooke Hourigan to bring it within one, 5-4, at 6:33. The Golden Bears saw offensive production on the counterattack and then naturally to keep their ledge. Layden passed out to Sara Naulty (3:12) to keep UCI active on scoring. Two more tallies from Cal followed as the 'Eaters trailed 9-5 at the break.
  • Alexander (1) and Naulty (1)
• Third period: Cal ripped for four unanswered to pull away from No. 7/7 UC Irvine, 13-5, then Hourigan was popped the ball at 2:50 to get the Anteaters their first score in over eight minutes of game action. Kennedy East's deposit into the cage at the 53 second mark was sandwiched between two from the Golden Bears, down 15-7.
  • East (1) and Hourigan (1)
• Fourth period: The Anteaters were the first to get on the board as Lauren Hett fed the ball into East at 6:20 then the Golden Bears went down the pool for the score just 20 seconds later. Each side exchanged scores as Layden was involved with both on UCI's side with an assist to O'Hara at 3:06 before putting one away herself at 2:26 in the 20-10 loss.
  • East (1), Layden (1), and O'Hara (1)

 
UP NEXT
The Anteaters return to Irvine for one last regular season contest, battling Black and Blue foe No. 6 Long Beach State at 7 p.m. on Thursday Apr. 17.