University of Washington
California
Keever's Late Game-Winner Gives UW 1-0 Win Over Cal
October 24, 2015 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – Sarah Shimer's first career shutout and Kimby Keever's 87th minute game-winning goal gave the Huskies a 1-0 win over No. 14 Cal on Friday night at Husky Soccer Field, ending the Bears' five-game winning streak.
“Both teams are really good attacking and defending teams,” UW head coach Lesle Gallimore said. “In the first half, they won the battle of the midfield. We just weren't clean. It ended up being a battle. It wasn't our prettiest performance, but it was probably our grittiest performance of the year. To hang around and get a late goal against this team, it's a nice win.”
With the win, the Huskies (11-3-2, 4-2-1 Pac-12) are now 7-1-0 at home this season.
After a scoreless struggle that lasted 86 minutes, the Huskies earned a corner that would lead to Keever's game winner. Junior defender Havana McElvaine played a cross that sophomore forward Rachel Wheeler flicked on, finding Keever in front of the net. Her strong side volley snuck past the outstretched arms of Cal goalkeeper Emily Boyd and gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead with three minutes remaining, a lead UW would keep.
“Havana hit it in and Rachel did a great job of flicking it on, I was just lucky to be in the right position to finish,” Keever said. “I'm glad we didn't have to go into overtime and it was great to get a win to start the weekend.”
It was Keever's fifth goal of the year. Both McElvaine and Wheeler were credited with assists, and each now have four on the season to tie for the team lead.
Starting in place of senior captain Megan Kufeld, Shimer made her first career start and made a number of big plays to keep the Huskies in the game. She totaled five saves, including a running, lunging save near the top of the box in the first half to stop a great counter chance for the Bears. Cal's Arielle Ship, the Pac-12's leading scorer, had a chance on a one touch in the second half that Shimer played perfectly for another big save, preserving the Huskies sixth shutout of the season.
“We were disciplined behind the ball and held our one on one matchups well,” Shimer said. “In that second half, we were under a lot of fire, but we just hung in there. We focused on ourselves and the task at hand. I had big shoes to fill with Megan being out, but I did my best and left it all out there.”
The back line of Dominique Bond-Flasza, McKenzie Karas, Allyson Brahs and Havana McElvaine was instrumental in holding the high-scoring Bears out of the goal.
The two teams played a statistically balanced game, with the Huskies putting up 12 shots to 10 for the Bears. Shimer made a total of five saves and Boyd made six.
Sophomore midfielder Shannon Simon led the Huskies with six shots, while Keever and freshman forward Kelcie Hedge had two shots apiece.
UW returns to action this Sunday against Stanford at 5 p.m. PT. The Cardinal are undefeated in Pac-12 play this season after a 2-1 win over WSU in Pullman on Thursday, Oct. 22 in double overtime.
Sunday's match will be shown on the Pac-12 Network. In-game updates will also be provided on Twitter at @UW_WSoccer and through the live stats page on GoHuskies.com.
For more on UW women's soccer, follow the Huskies on Facebook and on Snapchat, Periscope, Twitter and Instagram at @UW_WSoccer.
