Cal’s Blake Earns PEARL Honor

(Photo by Rod Brower)

ATLANTA – California recorded its second ranked win of the season thanks to the stellar netminding of senior Zach Blake, who is the MCLA Division I PEARL Goalie of the Week for the period ending Feb. 26.

Hosting a previously undefeated and No. 11 Chapman squad, the New Haven, Conn., native was wall. He finished with 22 saves and a 73.3 save percentage in the Golden Bears’ 9-8 victory.

"We have a young, inexperienced team that's still finding its way, but until we hit our stride, we're just grinding out wins and staying competitive,” said Cal coach Ned Webster. “The biggest reason has certainly been having Zach protecting the net.

“Our Chapman game was a battle, but pretty clean till the fourth quarter when the flags started flying and we were man-down four times. It felt like we played defense the entire quarter, but there was this odd sense of confidence and that was simply because of the way Zach was playing. He just locked it down for us and earned the win. I'm super proud of him”

For earning the PEARL’s Goalie of the Week, Blake will receive a prize package from Guardian PEARL, a ball that lasts longer than the rest and never greases. Guardian PEARL is the proud partner of the MCLA.

PEARL Honor Roll

Michael Doud, Sr. – Boise State
The La Canada, Calif., stopper turned away 20 shots (77.0 save percentage) helping the Broncos upset No. 20 Utah.

William Eckert, Sr. – Virginia Tech
The Hokies rolled to a pair of ranked victories over Colorado and Colorado State, thanks to a 64.7 save percentage from the Nokesville, Va., kid.

Jack Gaeger, Soph. – West Virginia
The Mountaineers stacked up a pair of wins against Indiana and Purdue, thanks to a combined 41 stops (68.3 save percentage) from Gaeger.

Finnegan Harris, Jr. – Pittsburgh
The Panthers took down Western Michigan, 11-6, thanks to 23 stops from the Morristown, N.J., product.

Declan Maseker, Soph. – Southern Methodist
The Mustangs walked into Austin and handed No. 21 Texas a 16-7 loss thanks to 25 saves from the Madison, N.J., native.

Max Sturgill, Soph. – Utah Valley
The Wolverines downed NC State and South Carolina on the road thanks to a 64.0 save percentage from the Lehi, Utah, native.

Matt Wagner, Sr. – Washington
The Huskies picked up their first conference win of the season thanks to the Libertyville, Ill., product who turned away 17 shots (63.0 save percentage).

Sutton Yazzolino, Soph. – Stanford
The Cardinal were on the business end of a 13-4 loss to Dominican, but the Portland, Ore., netminder turned away 31 shots in the setback.