Ur Scores Five as No. 1 Cal Poly Rolls Past No. 14 CSU-Chico 13-5 in 2009 National Collegiate Club Championship First Round

DAVIS, Calif. -- 2008 National Player of the Year Sarah Ur (So., Lompoc, Calif.) netted five goals, while Kelley Gause (So., San Jose, Calif.) and Roxanne Eastwood (Jr., Riverside, Calif.) tacked on hat-tricks as the No. 1 nationally ranked and defending national champion California Polytechnic State University Mustangs overpowered No. 14 California State University-Chico 13-5 in the opening game of the 2009 National Collegiate Club Championship on the campus of UC-Davis.

The Mustangs never trailed in the game as Gause cashed in on an advantage chance at the 6:17 mark and Ur ripped in a shot from set at 3:49 for a quick 2-0 lead in the first period.

Cal State-Chico responded to halve the lead as the Wildcats' Melanie McBroom (So., Ripon, Calif.) drilled a shot from the perimeter at 3:33, but Cal Poly closed the seven-minute frame with a two-goal barrage as Eastwood put home a shot from two-meters and Gause flipped in a scoring attempt from the low post at 1:43 and 15 seconds, respectively, to go in front 4-1.

The Wildcats again found the back of the cage with 5:16 left in the second period to pull back to within a pair of markers as McBroom laid out to beat Cal Poly goalie Hayley Chilton (So., Santa Barbara, Calif.), but the No. 1 ranked Mustangs answered with a two-meter shot and score by Ur at 4:16 and a lob shot by Erika Bigbie (So., Escondido, Calif.) at 3:33 to take a 6-2 lead.  

The teams traded goals to end the first half as Natalie DiMora (Gr., Lompoc, Calif.) rifled a shot from seven-meters at the 1:28 mark and Gause finished her hat-trick with a counter-goal with seven seconds to go to hand the Mustangs at 7-3 lead at intermission.

The goal ignited a five-goal scoring run by Cal Poly as Eastwood finished her hat-trick in the third period with markers at 5:40 and 3:44 to put the Mustangs ahead 9-3 after three periods of play.

The scoring spurt continued into the fourth period as Ur deked through the defense for scores from the perimeter (3:49) and at point-blank range (2:55) for rack up her third and fourth tallies of the game and pushed the lead to 11-3.

Cal State-Chico attempted to climb back into the game as McBroom finished off a hat-trick at 2:32, but Ur answered at 1:19 with a perimeter score for her fifth goal and a 12-4 Mustangs' lead.

The teams traded goals the rest of the way with Jennifer Thomas (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.) netting a score with 40 seconds to go for Chico, while Ciani Sparks (Fr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) finished off Cal Poly's scoring with a goal at the 13 seconds mark for the 13-5 final.

In cage, Chilton and Noelle Wondergem (So., Arroyo Grande, Calif.) made 10 saves for Cal Poly, while CSU-Chico's Amy Crawford (So., Sacramento, Calif.) stopped a pair of shots.

Cal Poly will continue the tournament at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 2 versus the victor of a first-round game between No. 4 University of Michigan and No. 3 University of California-Los Angeles for a shot at a semifinal berth, while Chico will take on the loser of the Michigan-UCLA game this evening (Friday, May 1) at 9:50 p.m. in the consolation bracket.

Cal Poly Goals: Sarah Ur (5); Roxanne Eastwood (3); Kelly Gause (3); Erika Bigbie; Ciani Spark

CSU-Chico Goals:  Melanie McBroom (3); Natalie DiMora; Jennifer Thomas

Saves: Cal Poly - Hayley Chilton (5, 14 minutes), Noelle Wondergem (5, 14 minutes) ; CSU-Chico - Amy Crawford (2)

Ejections: Cal Poly - 0 ; CSU-Chico - 3  (Melanie McBroom, Jessica Wellman, Krisa Winkler)