Cal vs. No. 24 Pacific
After a perfect weekend on the road, California field hockey looks to continue its momentum back home in Berkeley for the start of America East action. The Golden Bears (3-3, 0-0 America East) host Stockton-based foe Pacific (3-4, 0-1 America East) Saturday at 1 p.m. on Underhill Field.
Cal is coming off a 2-0 weekend from its first road trip of the season, defeating Bryant 8-0 and Northeastern 2-1. The Bears swept the conference's weekly awards, with
Megan Rodgers pacing the league in goals and
Danielle Mentink carrying a conference-best 0.50 goals against average last week. As a team, Cal currently ranks among the nation's top 30 in a number of categories, including assists per game (18th, 2.33), goals per game (19th, 2.67), points per game (19th, 7.67), corners per game (22nd, 6.67) and scoring average (23rd, 2.51).
Links for live stats and the live stream can be found on the Cal Field Hockey schedule page on CalBears.com. Follow @CalFieldHockey on Instagram and Twitter, plus Facebook.com/CalFH for a behind-the-scenes look at gameday and more.
HEAD COACH SHELLIE ONSTEAD'S TAKE
"We are hyper-focused on conference play. If we were a restaurants, this weekend marks the true opening as opposed to the soft opening."
NEED TO KNOW
• 12 different Bears have notched a goal or assist this season, led by freshman
Megan Rodgers' 16 points on seven goals and two assists.
•
Femke Delissen is 29th in the nation in assists per game, averaging 0.67 assists.
• Rodgers is halfway to joining the ranks as one of Cal's leading single-season goal-scorers. Three Bears (
Shellie Onstead, Nora Feddersen, Ashley Glosz) rank 10th in single-season goals scored with 14, and Rodgers currently has 7.
•
Melina Moore is within 10 goals of moving into the program's all-time top 10 in career goals scored. Moore has 18 career goals, eight away from tying
Shellie Onstead (1980-82) and Melissa Nerone's (1979-82) 10th-best mark of 26 career goals.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• Last Meeting: L, 4-0, on Oct. 30, 2016
• Series: Cal leads, 72-23
• Streak: The Bears dropped both games to the Tigers in 2016.
• Pacific is 0-1 in America East action after falling at No. 12 Stanford, 1-0, earlier this week.
• The Tigers are 2-2 on the road.
• Savannah Burns and Kriekie van Wyk lead the Tigers with 12 points on five goals and two assists apiece.
• Ash Rutherford, Rylee Comeau and Taylor Dempsey each have two goals this season.
• Rutherford and Emma Leach own a team-best six assists each this season.
• Marlise van Tonder has shut out two opponents and owns a 2.43 goals against average after starting all seven games in the cage.
BEARS SWEEP AE HONORS
After a perfect 2-0 weekend in their first road trip of the season in week 3, California swept the America East weekly honors with
Megan Rodgers earning both Player and Rookie of the Week laurels and
Danielle Mentink nabbing the Defensive Player of the Week award. Rodgers scored five goals between the two games, including Cal's first hat trick in two seasons at Bryant, and added an assist. Mentink logged all 140 minutes in the cage and allowed just one goal in 19 shots faced for a league-best 0.50 goals against average.
BEARS TABBED THIRD IN AE WEST
For the second consecutive season, the coaches of the America East have predicted a third-place finish for the Golden Bears (5 points) in the America East, just one point behind second-place Pacific (6 points). Stanford received three first-place votes to be named the favorite in the West, while UC Davis was tabbed last. In the East Division, Maine was predicted as the league's champion.
FROSH FACES
Cal's nine-member freshman class includes five international standouts, as well as Bay Area products
Morgan Peterson,
Sara Deck and
Callie Rose Goodman. Rookie
Megan Rodgers spent her summer playing with the USA FIeld Hockey U-19 squad. Four have made their Golden Bear debuts -- Rodgers, Goodman,
Maddie Cleat and
Valen Garraffo.
UNDERHILL IMPROVEMENTS
The home of California field hockey received a slew of upgrades in the offseason. Among the newest improvements for Cal's second season of competition at the Underhill Field facility are permanent raised seating areas, team meeting and medical space, a press area and live stream capability installations.
RED, WHITE, BLUE & GOLD
In addition to head coach
Shellie Onstead and both assistant coaches
Malachi Mahan and
Austin Pile holding national team playing or coaching experience, the Golden Bears have a long pipeline of individuals associated with Cal field hockey playing or working with Team USA. This year, both
Katrina Carter (U-21) and
Megan Rodgers (U-19) played with Team USA's development squads.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUX
While field hockey remains a growing sport in the United States, it is well-known internationally, and the Bears are receiving the benefits of its international appeal. Among Cal's 24-woman roster, seven student-athletes hail from a country outside of the United States:
Lindsay Mathison (Australia),
Femke Delissen (Netherlands),
Maddie Cleat (Scotland),
Victoria Struys (Belgium),
Yvie Lock (UK),
Valen Garraffo (Argentina) and
Natalie Dalton (Canada). In addition,
Sterre van Ede was born in South Africa, Struys has double nationality with Belgium/France and Dalton lived in Ireland as a child.
NEXT UP
The Bears are back on the road, taking on Fairfield and Quinnipiac Sept. 23-24 with hopes of extending their 2-0 road game winning streak.
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