Cal vs. No. 13 Iowa
Saturday, Sept. 22 | 9:30 AM PT | Lakeside Field | Evanston, Ill.
LIVE STATS | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER
Cal at No. 14 Northwestern
No. 25 California field hockey will put its newly acquired top 25 ranking to the test this weekend when the Golden Bears face off against a pair of top-ranked foes in No. 13 Iowa and No. 14 Northwestern. The Bears will meet both in Evanston, Ill., starting with Iowa on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. CT and wrapping up with the hosting Wildcats on Sunday at 9 a.m. PT/11 a.m. CT.
Sunday's game against Northwestern will air live on BTN Plus.
The Bears are looking for the first win over a top 15 opponent since last season, armed with one of the nation's most prolific scorers in
Megan Rodgers. The sophomore is ninth in the country in goals per game (1.00) and 13th in points per game (2.33). She is one
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live stats for both games this weekend are available via the CalBears.com schedule page, and Sunday's contest with Northwestern airs live on BTN Plus, accessible at BTN2go.com. Follow @CalFieldHockey on Instagram and Twitter, plus Facebook.com/CalFH for a behind-the-scenes look at gameday and more.
Â
NEED TO KNOW
• California appeared in to the NFHCA Top 25 rankings for the first time all season this week, checking in at No. 25.
• Cal's last win over a Top 15 opponent came against No. 14 Stanford, 4-2, on Oct. 15, 2017.
• Cal is 0-3 against ranked teams this season.
• The Bears wrapped up their nonconference home schedule with a 3-1 record, losing only to No. 4 Maryland.
•
Fionna Jensen scored her first collegiate goal in last week's win over Yale.
•
Melina Moore is one goal away from tying Melissa Nerone and
Shellie Onstead's 26 career goals, which stand at 10th all-time in the Golden Bear record book. Rodgers is five goals away with 23 total through her two-year career.
Â
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
• Last Meeting: Cal fell to then-No. 17 Iowa, 3-0, on Sept. 3, 2017
• Series: Iowa leads, 11-1
• Notable: Cal's lone win in the all-time series with the Hawkeyes was on Sept. 21, 2002. The Bears defeated Iowa 3-2.
• The Hawkeyes are 7-1, with their lone loss coming in OT, 2-1, at No. 2 North Carolina.
• Iowa is outscoring opponents 25-4.
• Maddy Murphy leads her squad in points (18) on 7 goals and 4 assists, while Katie Birch is second with 16 points on 5 goals and 6 assists.
• Makenna Grewe, Anthe Nijziel and Sophie Sunderland hace each added three goals apiece for the Hawkeyes.
• Leslie Speight has started all eight games in goal, with a 0.49 goals against average, 28 saves and a .875 save percentage.
Â
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• Last Meeting: The Bears lost in overtime at then-No. 12 Northwestern, 2-1
• Series: Northwestern leads, 9-4-1
• Notable: Cal once tied Northwestern, 1-1, in the very first meeting of the all-time series on Oct. 23, 1981.
• The Wildcats are 5-4 this season, with ranked wins over No. 15 Stanford (3-2, 2OT) and No. 13 Boston College (3-2, 2OT).
• Northwestern is 2-2 at home.
• Puck Pentenga paces the Wildcats with 17 points on 6 goals and 5 assists.
• Kirsten Mansfield has 13 points on 3 goals and a team-high 7 assists.
• Nine different Wildcats have combined for a total of 21 goals.
• Annie Kalfas is Northwestern's leading goalkeeper with a 4-2 record in the cage and a 1.91 goals against average with a .692 save percentage.Â
Â
ON THE RECORD(S)
Senior
Melina Moore is one goal shy of joining Cal's all-time top 10 leaders, with sophomore
Megan Rodgers not far behind her.
GOALS
No.   Name      #   SeasonS
1.      Valentina Godfrid   93   2003-06
2.   Lara Kruggel   45   2011-15
   Nora Feddersen   45   2000-04   3.   Ilse Akkermans   36   1992-94
...
9.   Megan Sainsbury   28   1996-99
10.   Melissa Nerone   26   1979-82
  Â
Shellie Onstead   26   1980-82
...
   MELINA MOORE   25   2015-18
   MEGAN RODGERS   23   2017-18
Â
NEXT UP
The Bears head home to open America East conference play against Pacific on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 2 p.m. from Underhill Field.
Â
