Nov. 5, 1999

BERKELEY, Calif. - Aided by a pair of first-half penalty kicks, California defeated Washington State 6-2 Friday in women's soccer action at Edwards Stadium.

Less than nine minutes into the match, Cal's Laura Schott was dragged down in the Cougar penalty box and Tami Pivnick converted the penalty kick for a 1-0 Bear lead. WSU's Meagin Donovan (Noblesville, Ind.) was whistled for a controversial hand ball inside the box at the 35:03 mark and on the ensuing penalty kick Cal's Regina Holan rifled the ball past WSU keeper Lindsey Jorgensen (North Bend, Wash.) for a 2-0 lead.

The Golden Bears jumped on the scoreboard first in the second half as well, when Stacey Mallison put in a rebound off a Schott shot at the 60:53 mark. But the Cougars sprung to back to life just 14 seconds later when freshman Brianne Carmody (Yakima, Wash.) took the kickoff the length of the field and netted her third goal of the season to cut the lead to 3-1.

Cal put the match away with three goals in a five minute span, including two from Schott and one from Brina Kabler. The loss dropped WSU to 7-11 overall, 1-6 in the Pac-10, while Cal kept its NCAA tournament at-large bid chances alive by improving to 12-6-1 overall, 5-3 Pac-10.

A highlight for WSU came on the match's final goal as junior Deka DeWitt (Auburn, Wash,) and Donovan executed a nice series of passes that resulted in a through ball to senior Christina Pallan (Las Vegas, Nev.) who beat Cal keeper Maite Zabala one-on-one for her fifth goal of the season.

DeWitt's assist was her eighth on the year and established a new WSU single season standard. Coming into today's match, DeWitt shared that record with teammate Beth Childs (Snoqualmie, Wash.) who had seven assists last year. The assist was DeWitt's 13th of her career, which ranks second all-time at WSU, one behind Vicki Day (1989-91). DeWitt ranks now second in the Pac-10 in assists this year, one behind USC's Kim Clark. With 10 goals and eight assists on the season, DeWitt also became the only other Cougar beside Kim Lynass (1990-93) to amass 28 points or more in a season.

Pallan also found her way into the WSU record book as she started the 72nd game of her career, tying Lynass and Robyn Smith (1991-94) at the top of that list. Pallan will break the school record with her 73rd career start Sunday at Stanford. Pallan also moved into 10th place in WSU career goals with her 10th, and seventh in career points with 29.

Jorgensen had 10 saves, but allowed six goals, which was the most she had let go by this season, and the second-highest of her two-year career. Last year, Santa Clara, ranked third in the nation at the time, scored nine goals on Jorgensen in just her second collegiate match. The 10 saves versus the Bears give Jorgensen 115 on the season, meaning she needs nine stops Sunday at Stanford to break Natalie McDowell's school record of 123 set in 1993.

The Cougars are in need of a win in their season finale Sunday at No. 7 Stanford in order to avert their worst Pac-10 record in school history. Currently, that distinction goes to the 1995 squad that went 1-6 in conference play. WSU is 1-7 all time versus the Cardinal and has never won at Stanford.

BOX SCORE

Team                                  1   2   OT   OT   F

Scoring summary: First half - 1, CAL, Tami Pivnick (penalty kick), 8:34. 2, CAL, Regina Holan (penalty kick), 35:03. Second half - 3, CAL, Stacey Mallison, (Laura Schott), 60:53. 4, WSU, Brianne Carmody (unassisted), 61:07. 5, CAL, Schott (LeeAnn Morton), 63:15. 6, Brina Kabler (Natalie Stohlmueller), 65:24. 7, CAL, Schott (Kim Stockmeir), 68:18. 8, Christina Pallan (Meagin Donovan, Deka DeWitt), 85:09. Shots - WSU 16 (DeWitt 6, Donovan 3, Beth Childs 2, Pallan 2, Stacey Dunn 1, Katrina Stroh 1, Carmody 1), CAL 28 (Schott 12, Mallison 3, Amy Balavac 3, Stephanie Strocco 3, Kabler 1, Kim Brown 1, Pivnick 1, Stohlmueller 1, Regina Holan 1, Jennifer Medina 1, Jessica Rhodes 1). Corner kicks - WSU 4, CAL 7. Goalie saves - WSU 10 (Lindsey Jorgensen 10), CAL 5 (Maite Zabala 5). Fouls - WSU 16, CAL 28. Offsides - WSU 0, CAL 3. Cautions/Ejections - Schott, CAL, yellow (dissent), 84:00. Attendance - 113.

--GO COUGS--