California Golden Bears Athletics
Thursday, October 20
Berkeley, Calif.
2:00 PM
California
vs
Utah
Photo by: Al Sermeno
Top-Tier Pac-12 Matches Loom For No. 10 Cal
10/18/2016 5:25 PM | Women's Soccer
BERKELEY --- No. 10 California women's soccer returns home from a three-game road slate for a pair of battles against top-3 Pac-12 opponents. The Golden Bears face Utah on Thursday, October 20 at 2 p.m. PT and take on league leader and No. 22 Colorado on Sunday, October 23 at 1 p.m. PT in Berkeley. Fans can follow contests via LiveStats (calbea.rs/CalLiveStats ) and the Bears' Twitter account @CalWomensSoccer. The Cal-Utah matchup will also air on Pac-12 Networks.
LAST TIME OUT
Cal extended its unbeaten streak to eight games with its 2-0 victory over Oregon on Saturday in Eugene. Senior Arielle Ship and redshirt senior Ifeoma Onumonu each scored their eighth goals of the season in the victory and kept the Bears near the top of the Pac-12 standings.
SCOUTING UTAH
Utah has gone unbeaten in its last nine matches, posting a record of 7-0-2 in the process. The Utes are tied with the Bears for second place in the conference (16 points, 5-0-1). The Pac-12's top goal and point scorer, Hailey Skolmoski, leads the way for Utah with 11 goals and 24 points on the year. Katie Rogers leads the Utes in assists with four, while goalkeeper July Mathias has played most of the team's matches in net and produced a 0.55 GAA in nine games played.
Cal currently leads the all-time series vs Utah, 6-0-2, including an 3-0-1 edge at home. Cal won the last meeting with Utah, beating the Utes, 2-0, in 2015.
SCOUTING COLORADO
Colorado sits atop the Pac-12 standings with a perfect 6-0 record and has won 10 straight contests entering this week. The Buffs will face Stanford in Palo Alto on Thursday before coming to Berkeley. CU's Taylor Kornieck is second in the Pac-12 in goals (10) and t-1st in points (24) while Danica Evans & Stephanie Zuniga each has assisted on five scores. Goalie Jalen Tompkins has seen action in all 15 Colorado matches and is third in the Pac-12 in GAA (0.53).
Cal currently leads the all-time series vs Colorado, 4-2-1, including an 1-1-1 edge at home. Cal lost the last meeting with Colorado, falling to the Buffs, 2-1, in double overtime last season.
TRIPLE DOUBLE
For the second consecutive season, the Pac-12 Coaches have predicted that Bears will finish the regular season in third place. Reigning conference champion Stanford was selected to repeat atop the league standings, with USC picked to finish second. Trailing Cal in the Coaches Poll were UCLA, Arizona, Washington, Washington State, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado, Oregon State and Oregon.
JUMPING ON THE SHIP
Senior Arielle Ship, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year and first-ever from Cal women's soccer, is leading the way for the Bears again in 2016. A NSCAA All-American and All-Pac-12 First Team selection last year, Ship began the season by being named to the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list selection; picked as the 19th-ranked player on TopDrawerSoccer's first National Top 100 Players list; and named a TDS Preseason Best XI Second Team honoree. She currently leads the team in goals (8; tied), assists (5), points (21) and game-winning goals (4; tied).
ROLL ON YOUR BEARS
Heading into Thursday's matchup with Utah, Cal has gone 7-0-1 in its last eight matches - its longest unbeaten streak since going 9-0-4 over a 13-game stretch to open the 2013 season.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
With 31 career goals, redshirt senior Ifeoma Onumonu is currently tied with Erika Hinton (1990-93) for 5th place all-time at Cal. . Entering the season, Onumonu scored a career- best 11 goals in 2012, eight in 2013, one in an injury-plagued 2014 and three last season. Arielle Ship is reaching for the top of this list as well, with 26 career goals (0 Fr./4 So./14 Jr./7 Sr.), 7th all -time at Cal.
STOP AND SHINE
Junior Emily Boyd is also making a play for standing in the Cal all-time record books. The Bears' starting goalkeeper - whose 10 shutouts are 3rd in the nation - has 25.3 career clean sheets to her credit and sits solely in 2nd place all-time at Cal, ahead of Karen Cook (1993-96; 22), Emily Kruger (2010-13; 20.3), Mary Harvey (1983-86; 20) and Ashley Sulprizio (2002-05; 20). Boyd blanked four opponents in 2014 as a freshman and logged a career-best 11 shutouts last year as a sophomore. Boyd has also reached the top five all-time at Cal in saves: her 182 career stops (62 as a freshman, 76 as a sophomore, 48 as a junior,) place her 4th all-time, passing Harvey.
SENIOR SENDOFF
The match against Colorado will serve as Senior Day for Cal. The Bears will be honoring the contributions of 8 student-athletes: Zoe Clark, Emma Fletcher, Elliott Gentile, Lynsey Hromatko, Maddie Julian, Ifeoma Onumonu, Arielle Ship and Alexa Vandevanter.
CONFERENCE AFFILIATION
Outside of its Pac-12 Conference slate, Cal faced opponents from four other leagues during the 2016 season - the Big West, the West Coast Conference, the Big 12 and the Mountain West. Cal posted a .500 or better record against each league: Big West - 2-0 (W: Cal Poly & UC Davis); West Coast Conference: 2-2 (W: Portland & USF; L: Santa Clara & Saint Mary's); Mountain West: 1-0 (W: New Mexico); Big 12: 2-0 (W: Texas Tech & Texas).
LEADING BEAR
Entering the 2016 campaign, head coach Neil McGuire had posted a record of 111-58-22 in his nine previous seasons in Berkeley. With the team's 12 wins so far this year, McGuire's total is up to 123, just 1 shy of tying the school record of 124 wins set by McGuire's predecessor, Kevin Boyd, from 1997-06.
NO STOPPING BOYD
Junior Emily Boyd received a slew of awards last week after a stellar weekend against ranked UCLA and USC teams. Cal's starting goalkeeper was named NSCAA, NCAA, espW andTopDrawerSoccer Player of the Week, along with earning Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week honors. Boyd make a career-high 11 saves in a draw against No. 10 UCLA and earned her ninth shutout of the year with an eight-save performance against No. 7 USC.
BEAR TERRITORY
Cal is undefeated in 8 contests this season, winning 6 by shutout and outscoring opponents 20-2. With the first four home wins coming by clean sheets, Cal opened a home schedule with that many shuouts for the first time since 1988. The Bears rattled off six shutout victories at home to begin the 1988 campaign.
BATTLES OF LA
For the first time all season, Cal will take on a pair of ranked opponents in back-to-back matches. The Bears faced back-to-back ranked team twice last season, going 0-2-2 in the four matches.
LATE RISER
Freshman Abigail Kim has displayed a penchant for the dramatic when it comes to scoring goals. Two of Kim's three goals have come within the last five minutes of regulation - an 86th minute goal at USC and an 90th score against UC Davis.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
By going unbeaten against UCLA and USC earlier this month, the Bears were able to record at least four points (1-0-1) against their SoCal rivals for the first time since 2011.
LAST TIME OUT
Cal extended its unbeaten streak to eight games with its 2-0 victory over Oregon on Saturday in Eugene. Senior Arielle Ship and redshirt senior Ifeoma Onumonu each scored their eighth goals of the season in the victory and kept the Bears near the top of the Pac-12 standings.
SCOUTING UTAH
Utah has gone unbeaten in its last nine matches, posting a record of 7-0-2 in the process. The Utes are tied with the Bears for second place in the conference (16 points, 5-0-1). The Pac-12's top goal and point scorer, Hailey Skolmoski, leads the way for Utah with 11 goals and 24 points on the year. Katie Rogers leads the Utes in assists with four, while goalkeeper July Mathias has played most of the team's matches in net and produced a 0.55 GAA in nine games played.
Cal currently leads the all-time series vs Utah, 6-0-2, including an 3-0-1 edge at home. Cal won the last meeting with Utah, beating the Utes, 2-0, in 2015.
SCOUTING COLORADO
Colorado sits atop the Pac-12 standings with a perfect 6-0 record and has won 10 straight contests entering this week. The Buffs will face Stanford in Palo Alto on Thursday before coming to Berkeley. CU's Taylor Kornieck is second in the Pac-12 in goals (10) and t-1st in points (24) while Danica Evans & Stephanie Zuniga each has assisted on five scores. Goalie Jalen Tompkins has seen action in all 15 Colorado matches and is third in the Pac-12 in GAA (0.53).
Cal currently leads the all-time series vs Colorado, 4-2-1, including an 1-1-1 edge at home. Cal lost the last meeting with Colorado, falling to the Buffs, 2-1, in double overtime last season.
TRIPLE DOUBLE
For the second consecutive season, the Pac-12 Coaches have predicted that Bears will finish the regular season in third place. Reigning conference champion Stanford was selected to repeat atop the league standings, with USC picked to finish second. Trailing Cal in the Coaches Poll were UCLA, Arizona, Washington, Washington State, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado, Oregon State and Oregon.
JUMPING ON THE SHIP
Senior Arielle Ship, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year and first-ever from Cal women's soccer, is leading the way for the Bears again in 2016. A NSCAA All-American and All-Pac-12 First Team selection last year, Ship began the season by being named to the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list selection; picked as the 19th-ranked player on TopDrawerSoccer's first National Top 100 Players list; and named a TDS Preseason Best XI Second Team honoree. She currently leads the team in goals (8; tied), assists (5), points (21) and game-winning goals (4; tied).
ROLL ON YOUR BEARS
Heading into Thursday's matchup with Utah, Cal has gone 7-0-1 in its last eight matches - its longest unbeaten streak since going 9-0-4 over a 13-game stretch to open the 2013 season.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
With 31 career goals, redshirt senior Ifeoma Onumonu is currently tied with Erika Hinton (1990-93) for 5th place all-time at Cal. . Entering the season, Onumonu scored a career- best 11 goals in 2012, eight in 2013, one in an injury-plagued 2014 and three last season. Arielle Ship is reaching for the top of this list as well, with 26 career goals (0 Fr./4 So./14 Jr./7 Sr.), 7th all -time at Cal.
STOP AND SHINE
Junior Emily Boyd is also making a play for standing in the Cal all-time record books. The Bears' starting goalkeeper - whose 10 shutouts are 3rd in the nation - has 25.3 career clean sheets to her credit and sits solely in 2nd place all-time at Cal, ahead of Karen Cook (1993-96; 22), Emily Kruger (2010-13; 20.3), Mary Harvey (1983-86; 20) and Ashley Sulprizio (2002-05; 20). Boyd blanked four opponents in 2014 as a freshman and logged a career-best 11 shutouts last year as a sophomore. Boyd has also reached the top five all-time at Cal in saves: her 182 career stops (62 as a freshman, 76 as a sophomore, 48 as a junior,) place her 4th all-time, passing Harvey.
SENIOR SENDOFF
The match against Colorado will serve as Senior Day for Cal. The Bears will be honoring the contributions of 8 student-athletes: Zoe Clark, Emma Fletcher, Elliott Gentile, Lynsey Hromatko, Maddie Julian, Ifeoma Onumonu, Arielle Ship and Alexa Vandevanter.
CONFERENCE AFFILIATION
Outside of its Pac-12 Conference slate, Cal faced opponents from four other leagues during the 2016 season - the Big West, the West Coast Conference, the Big 12 and the Mountain West. Cal posted a .500 or better record against each league: Big West - 2-0 (W: Cal Poly & UC Davis); West Coast Conference: 2-2 (W: Portland & USF; L: Santa Clara & Saint Mary's); Mountain West: 1-0 (W: New Mexico); Big 12: 2-0 (W: Texas Tech & Texas).
LEADING BEAR
Entering the 2016 campaign, head coach Neil McGuire had posted a record of 111-58-22 in his nine previous seasons in Berkeley. With the team's 12 wins so far this year, McGuire's total is up to 123, just 1 shy of tying the school record of 124 wins set by McGuire's predecessor, Kevin Boyd, from 1997-06.
NO STOPPING BOYD
Junior Emily Boyd received a slew of awards last week after a stellar weekend against ranked UCLA and USC teams. Cal's starting goalkeeper was named NSCAA, NCAA, espW andTopDrawerSoccer Player of the Week, along with earning Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week honors. Boyd make a career-high 11 saves in a draw against No. 10 UCLA and earned her ninth shutout of the year with an eight-save performance against No. 7 USC.
BEAR TERRITORY
Cal is undefeated in 8 contests this season, winning 6 by shutout and outscoring opponents 20-2. With the first four home wins coming by clean sheets, Cal opened a home schedule with that many shuouts for the first time since 1988. The Bears rattled off six shutout victories at home to begin the 1988 campaign.
BATTLES OF LA
For the first time all season, Cal will take on a pair of ranked opponents in back-to-back matches. The Bears faced back-to-back ranked team twice last season, going 0-2-2 in the four matches.
LATE RISER
Freshman Abigail Kim has displayed a penchant for the dramatic when it comes to scoring goals. Two of Kim's three goals have come within the last five minutes of regulation - an 86th minute goal at USC and an 90th score against UC Davis.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
By going unbeaten against UCLA and USC earlier this month, the Bears were able to record at least four points (1-0-1) against their SoCal rivals for the first time since 2011.
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
F/MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's SoccerWednesday, November 13
Sunday, November 03
Thursday, October 31
Monday, October 21
