Cal Women Score 2 Late Goals to Tie No. 1 Virginia

Cal scored two goals in the final seven minutes to pull off a shocking 2-2 tie against No. 1 ranked, unbeaten Virginia in a women’s soccer game in Berkeley on Thursday afternoon.

Virginia (10-0-2 overall, 4-0-1 ACC) suffered just its second blemish of the season and its first in ACC play after seemingly having the victory in hand.

The Cavaliers scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the game and controlled play the rest of the game while holding a 2-0 lead. Virginia outshot Cal (6-2-7, 2-1-3 ACC) by a margin of 16-6 and had a 9-3 advantage in shots on goal.

Cal goaltender Teagan Wy kept the Bears alive with a number of spectacular saves, and Cal had two shots bounce off the crossbar of the Virginia goal, keeping the Bears scoreless.

Virginia had conceded just three goals all season to that point, so the Bears’ chances seemed dim at best.

Then with just under seven minutes left in the second half, Virginia was called for a hand ball in the penalty area, a call that was made after the referee had taken time to look at a video review of the play.

Cal’s Lumi Kostmayer converted the penalty kick for her team-leading fifth goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game with 6:54 remaining in the contest. But it still appeared Cal would come up short with the Virginia defense locking down its end.

However, with 2:30 left in the game, Cal’s Soleil Dimry fired what seemed like a desperation shot from 25 meters away. Buit the perfectly placed strike beat diving Virginia goaltender Victoria Safradin to the upper right corner, tying the score at 2-2.

It was Dimry’s third goal of the season.

Cal then kept Virginia off the scoreboard in a frantic two-minute stretch to end the game.

It is believed that Cal has never defeated a No. 1-ranked team in women’s soccer, and it still hasn’t, but the Bears reacted to this result as if it was a victory.

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