BERKELEY – After an unparalleled playing career and four-year stint as an assistant coach, Lesle Gallimore finally left Cal in 1990 to carve a new path at a different institution.

That lasted a couple months.

During her first season as the head coach at San Diego State, Gallimore was trying to encourage her overmatched Aztecs against her alma mater.

"Go Bears!" she yelled from the bench.

Yes, Cal means a lot to Lesle Gallimore.

Nearly 30 years later, Gallimore's passion for her school hasn't waned. Today at Edwards Stadium, as the head coach of the Washington Huskies, Gallimore will return to Edwards Stadium one final time as a coach. Gallimore announced in January that her 26^th season guiding the Huskies program will be her last, as she will retire at the conclusion of 2019.

"I owe everything to my time at Cal," said Gallimore, a four-time All-American defender at Cal from 1982-85. "I really, truly do. I will never forget that. The teams I've coached since then, I've hoped to represent the in a way that are a reflection of that. I want to make Cal proud to call me an alum."

Gallimore helped the Bears qualify for three NCAA Tournaments as a student-athlete then went on to serve on Cal's coaching staff until 1989. She was hired by the Aztecs the next year, and apparently it took a while to convince herself she was no longer in Berkeley.

"I knew we had a tall order in playing Cal that first year," Gallimore said. "Our team was competitive at San Diego State, but in those early years we were the underdog against the big guns. I yelled 'Go Bears' from our bench. It came right out of my mouth. My players looked at me like, 'Really?' I could feel their eyes burning in the side of my skull. I think I lost them at that point. I stuck around for four years and that never happened again."

Washington ultimately hired Gallimore away from San Diego State in 1994 and she has been there ever since. She is the longest tenured coach in the Pac-12 and has led the Huskies to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Gallimore has made several trips back to Berkeley as an opposing coach, but today's game will be different.

"If there is ever emotion around anything having to do with soccer – and this is not to slight Washington – it has to do with Cal," Gallimore said. "Cal gave me everything. Everything about Cal is always emotional for me in a very great way."

Gallimore said she expects many family members and friends to be in attendance today to see her coach at her alma mater one final time. Whenever Washington's 2019 season comes to an end, Gallimore will leave a legacy that is close to unmatched. In addition to her successes as a student-athlete and longtime coach, Gallimore also has served on the U.S. National Team coaching staff and was president of the United Soccer Coaches organization.

"I think there might be a very small handful of women who have had the impact that Lesle has had on women's soccer – not just the college game, but in general," said Katharin Roth, who grew up with Gallimore in Southern California, played on the same club team and then came to play at Cal together. "She has brought a level of professionalism, knowledge and love for the game that not many people can match. She got involved in it when it wasn't something most women did as a career. She turned it into an amazing career."

Gallimore said she has spent most of this season so far keeping her emotions in check and being in the moment with her team. But she admitted today's game may present a stiff challenge to that commitment.

"I think it's going to be hard for Les," Roth said. "She's coming full circle. Lesle made incredible connections while she was at Cal. She has mentors in the coaching world, and still to this day those are people and friends of hers that she looks up to."