Cal Women’s Soccer Falls 3-1 to SMU Despite Early Van More Goal

Cal women’s soccer fell 3-1 to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in its first home match in weeks, dropping to 4-6-5 overall and 1-4-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, according to The Daily Californian.

Coming off a 3-1 road loss to No. 10 Stanford, the Golden Bears opened the scoring in the fifth minute when sophomore Mia Van More netted her first goal of the season—and the third of her collegiate career—off an assist from freshman Jada Faison. Van More logged a career-high 53 minutes on the pitch, helping Cal carry a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Second-Half Surge by Kaylee Noble and Brooke Bunton

Just over one minute into the second half, SMU senior Kaylee Noble equalized with her fifth goal of the season, assisted by sophomore Maleeya Martin.

The match remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the 77th minute, when SMU redshirt freshman Brooke Bunton scored off an assist from graduate student Hali Hartman. Two minutes later, in the 79th minute, Bunton converted a penalty kick following a foul drawn on Cal sophomore Cara Borthwick—the only foul called on either team during the match—recording her eighth and ninth goals of the season.

SMU outshot Cal 12-7 overall and held an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal, leaving Mustangs goalkeeper Aubrey Brown with zero saves. Cal goalkeepers totaled five saves, with redshirt junior Alyssa Savig recording four stops and redshirt senior Isabella Banuelos making one save on SMU freshman Julianne Richter in the 85th minute. The win was SMU’s first ACC victory of the season, moving the Mustangs to 6-6-4 overall and 1-5-2 in conference play.

Upcoming Home Stand at Edwards Stadium

Cal returns to Edwards Stadium in Berkeley for two ACC home matches over Halloween weekend:

• Thursday, Oct. 29 at 3:00 p.m. against Notre Dame
• Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1:00 p.m. against NC State