DENVER - Carley Preble scored the go-ahead goal with five minutes, 13 seconds left to lead the University of California to an 8-7 win over the University of Denver in women's lacrosse action Friday night at Pioneer Field. The win improves Cal to 2-3, while Denver falls to 1-4.

The Pioneers twice held one-goal leads in the first half, yet the Bears knotted the score at 3-3 on Sarah Wheatley's second goal of the game with 8:54 to go in the half. The two teams continued to play tight defense as they did all game, and went into halftime tied at 3-3.

Cal jumped ahead just 14 seconds into the second half on Joelle LeMoult's second goal, but the Pioneers fought back to take the lead minutes later, as sophomore Mariana Spry (Nashua, N.H. / Nashua HS) and freshman Patience Baldwin (Baltimore, Md. / Vermont Academy) scored back-to-back goals within 38 seconds of each other to take a 5-4 lead. Four minutes later, Cal tied the score again on a Julianne Wu goal.

Neither team could make a dent in the score for the next 12 minutes and traded goals within a minute of each other to tie the score for a sixth time at 6-all before back-to-back goals from Emily Edwards and Carley Preble gave the Bears an insurmountable 8-6 lead. Freshman Noemi Hites (Pleasanton, Calif. / Monte Vista HS) scored with 2:01 to play, but the Pioneers could not force another tie.

"Tonight was an awesome lacrosse game all around," said head coach Abby Burbank. "You had two evenly matched teams that played well, and it was nice to see the bleachers full off fans and have the youth teams coming up and asking the players for autographs after the game. Sarah Hazard had a great game in goal for us, and the team had tremendous composure the whole game. I'm not worried about the outcome; we played well, we're improving, and that's what I'm most concerned about."

The Denver women conclude their four-game homestand next Tuesday, March 13, when the Pioneers host American University. Face-off at the Denver Lacrosse Field – located immediately west of the Ritchie Center – is set for 4 p.m.

DENVER WOMEN'S LACROSSE - at Denver, Colo.Cal 8, DENVER 7                        1       2       —       FCal (2-3)               3       5       —       8DENVER (1-4)            3       4       —       7GOALS: CAL – LeMoult 2, Wheatley 2, Preble, Kado, Edwards, Wu; DENVER – Spry3, Hites 2, Baldwin 2.ASSISTS: CAL 4 (O'Mara 2, Preble, Kado, Wu); DENVER 1 (Baldwin).SAVES: CAL 10 (Coelho 10); DENVER 11 (Hazard 11).