April 1, 2001

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The University of California capped its 10-day eastern road trip with a 9-8 victory over the Villanova Wildcats in a tight contest played Sunday afternoon at Villanova Stadium.

Freshman Julianne Wu (Denver, Col.) led the Golden Bears with four goals and one assist. Villanova freshman Lauren Ferrara (Tabernacle, N.J.) duplicated that effort, with four goals and an assist as well.

The two teams went back and forth all afternoon. California scored first when a shot from Carley Preble (Concord, Mass.) beat goalkeeper Brandy Grenier (Rochester, N.Y.) at the 28:45 mark. But the 'Cats responded just 40 seconds later when Sarah DePeters scored her 27th goal of the season at the 28:05 mark. The teams exchanged goals again three minutes later, with Wu finding the back of the net for California and Ferrara scoring the first of her goals. A Caitlin Cocks pass set up DePeters for a goal to make it 3-2 at the 24:33 mark in favor of the 'Cats.

Villanova held the lead until the 11:33 mark, when Britini Must (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) scored for the Golden Bears. Ferrara pushed Villanova back into the lead at the 7:33 mark but Wu scored at the 3:38 mark to knot matters at four at intermission.

After each team scored early in the second half, California came up with a three goal burst from Wu, Laura Kado, and Wu again to build an 8-5 cushion with 7:18 left. Scores by Cecily Pierce (New Canaan, Conn.) and Ferrara brought the Wildcats to within 8-7 at the 4:17 mark. But a goal from Sarah Wheatley (San Jose, Cal.) gave the Golden Bears a 9-7 lead at the 2:28 mark. Ferrara closed out the scoring with a goal at the 1:57 mark.

Grenier recorded nine saves for the Wildcats in net.

Villanova (3-7 overall, 2-1 Patriot League) returns to action this Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. when it hosts Fairfield at Villanova Stadium.