Bears Face USF In Non-Conference Finale

BERKELEY --- No. 21 California women's soccer will play a single weekend contest for the first time this season when the Golden Bears host the University of San Francisco Dons on Friday, September 17 at 2 p.m.

The matchup, Cal's non-conference finale, will also mark the team's first appearance on Pac-12 Networks this season. The broadcast team of Joe Castellano & Danielle Slaton will call the action.

LAST TIME OUT
Cal remained undefeated at home after a 4-0 victory against UC Davis on Sunday afternoon. Four different Golden Bears scored against the Aggies to improve to 4-0 at Goldman Field.

SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO
USF enters Friday's matchup with a record of 3-5-0 after a 1-0 defeat at Pac-12 member Arizona on September 11. The Dons also faced Arizona State this past weekend, defeating the Sun Devils 2-1 in double overtime on September 9. USF and Cal share one previously played common opponent in Cal Poly: USF fell to the Mustangs 2-1 in overtime on August 26 while the Bears beat Cal Poly, 1-0, in their August 19 home opener. Senior midfielder Amanda Whittle leads USF in goals (4), assists (2) and total points (10) while having started all eight games. Sophomore goalkeeper Makayla Presgrave is the only netminder to have seen action for the Dons, posting a 1.70 goals against average and 49 saves on the year. Cal leads the all-time series against USF 16-3-2 after a 2-0 victory over the Dons on September 18 of last year.

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.

UMPING ON THE SHIP
Senior Arielle Ship, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year and first-ever from Cal women's soccer, is primed to lead the Bears again in 2016. A NSCAA All-American and All-Pac-12 First Team selection last year, Ship has already picked up a few honors early this season: MAC Hermann Trophy watch list selection; No. 19 ranked player on TopDrawerSoccer's first National Top 100 Players list; and a TDS Preseason Best XI Second Team honoree.

FITZGERARD'S STREAK
Kelly Fitzgerald was the first player this year to score in back-to-back games after finding the back of the net against New Mexico and Portland. She added a third consecutive goal against Texas Tech. Her goal streak ended after being shut out by Texas but she extended her points streak to a fourth game by setting up Ifeoma
Onumonu's game-winner against the Longhorns. The four-game point stretch is the longest of the season for any Golden Bear.

CLIMBING THE LADDER
With her goal against Texas - her third of the year and 26th of her career - redshirt senior Ifeoma Onumonu moved into 6th place on Cal's all-time list for career goals, passing Winnie Burns (1985-88) and Andrea Rodebaugh (1984-87). Six more scores will put her at 32 for her career and in the top five all-time in Golden Bear history, passing Erika Hinton (1990-93). 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.

SHUTOUT CENTRAL
Junior Emily Boyd is also making a play for standing in the Cal all-time record books. The Bears' starting goalkeeper - who currently leads the nation in shutouts with six - has 21 career clean sheets to her credit and sits solely in 3rd place all-time at Cal, ahead of 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.

CONFERENCE AFFILIATION
Outside of its Pac-12 Conference slate, Cal will take on opponents from four other leagues during the 2016 season - the Big West, the West Coast Conference, the Big 12 and the Mountain West.

Big West: 2-0 (W: Cal Poly & UC Davis)
West Coast Conference: 1-2 (W: Portland; L: Santa Clara & Saint Mary's) | Left: USF
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 6 wins so far this year, McGuire's total is up to 117, just 7 shy of the school record of 124 wins set by McGuire's predecessor, Kevin Boyd, from 1997-06.

BEAR TERRITORY
Cal is undefeated in its 4 home contests this season, winning each game via shutout. This marks the first time since 1988 that the Bears have opened a schedule with 4 straight home shutout wins. The Bears rattled off six shutout victories at home to begin the 1988 campaign.