Gm 1: Cal Baptist 13, FPU 4
Gm 2: #3 Cal 30, FPU 1

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – In day 1 of the UCSB Winter Invitational, the Sunbirds fought hard against conference rival California Baptist in the morning followed by facing the undefeated #3 Cal in the evening. 

Cal Baptist controlled the momentum in the first quarter as the Lancers scored six unanswered goals. The Sunbirds ended their drought in the second as they scored their first goal of the match. The Lancers came out quickly after the half and added another four goals in the third quarter. Emily Marr contributed three goals on the day for the Sunbirds. Despite the Lancers' offensive onslaught, Kelsie Harvey had four saves on the day as the Sunbirds fell 13-4.

"We came out slow and let them get away with an early lead," said head coach Bryan Suhovy. "Our team showed some strong moments when the women really stepped up, but at the end we couldn't fight our way back. I'm optimistic about what's to come heading into our second match tonight."

In their second match of the day, the Sunbirds squared off with one of the nation's top teams, #3 Cal. 

Mallory Rettig gave a strong performance in the first quarter never backing down from the Bears. As a result she scored her first goal of the season for the Sunbirds. It was the team's lone goal in this evening's competition and it came in the first quarter of play. Defensively, Harvey had six saves throughout the second match. 

"They are the third best team in the nation for a reason," said Suhovy. "It was a great learning experience for our women and we learned a lot from playing them. I am proud of how our team represented the program."
 
The Sunbirds will continue the UCSB Winter Invitational tomorrow facing #12 San Jose State at 11:20 am and Whittier at 5:40 pm.