BERKELEY – The 2019 Cal women's soccer schedule features 11 home games and seven matches against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament in 2018, the Pac-12 announced on Wednesday. The Golden Bears' full schedule for the 2019 season can be found here.

The Bears open the 2019 campaign on Thursday, Aug. 22, welcoming Weber State to Goldman Field at Edwards Stadium for a 4 p.m. PT kickoff. Cal then heads south for a pair of matches down the coast, taking on UC Santa Barbara (Aug. 30) and San Diego State (Sep. 1).

Other marquee fixtures during non-conference play include home games against Santa Clara and Portland. The Bears and Broncos will meet in Berkeley on Sunday, Sept. 15, at 3 p.m. PT, the first of 10 matches for the Golden Bears that will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. Cal renews its rivalry with Portland on Sunday, Sept. 22, hosting the Pilots for a 12 p.m. PT kickoff on Pac-12 Networks, which will also serve as the Bears' final tune-up before starting Pac-12 play.

Cal begins the 2019 conference campaign on the road, taking on UCLA at 7 p.m. PT on Friday, Sept. 27. The Bears then return to Berkeley for a homestand against Washington (Oct. 3) and Washington State (Oct. 6), the first of five conference home games this season. Other Pac-12 matches for Cal include road tilts against Oregon (Oct. 10), Oregon State (Oct. 13), Utah (Oct. 24), and Colorado (Oct. 27), while the Bears will host USC on Friday, Oct. 18, in Berkeley.

Cal closes the regular season with three matches in the Bay Area, hosting Arizona (Oct. 31) and Arizona State (Nov. 3) before closing the regular season with a Friday night matchup at Stanford on Nov. 8.

The winningest coach in program history, head coach Neil McGuire is entering his 13th season in Berkeley and returns 22 players from last season's squad.

The Bears bring back three of the their top four scorers from last season in Abi Kim, Emma Westin, and Kayla Fong. Kim, a third-team All-Pac-12 and All-Region selection last season as a junior, has established herself as one of the top scoring threats in the conference. Kim, who represented the United States last summer at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, led the Bears in scoring last season with six goals. Westin, a rising junior who has recently seen time with Sweden's Under-20 and Under-23 national teams, was second on the team in scoring last season with four goals and led the Bears with four assists. Fong, a rising senior from Belmont, California, added three goals and an assist for the Bears in 2018. 

After gaining valuable experience last season, the Bears' midfield will be bolstered by the return Daisy Cleverley, Luca Deza, and Paige Metayer, who earned consistent starting roles last season. Deza was a Pac-12 All-Freshman selection in 2017 and had six points for the Bears as a sophomore. Cleverley returns to Berkeley after representing New Zealand at this summer's FIFA Women's World Cup in France, while Metayer looks to build upon a strong freshman campaign in which she played a key role on both sides of the ball and tallied a pair of goals. 

Defensively, the Bears will be led by junior Emily Smith, who earned Third-Team All-Region and All-Pac-12 recognition as a freshman and has seen significant time with the U.S. Youth National Teams. Sydney Collins, a rising sophomore, started alongside Smith at centerback for the first 13 matches of the season, before missing the remainder of the year due to injury.

In addition to 22 returners, the Golden Bears' 2019 roster will feature nine new faces. Redshirt sophomore Julia Curtis joined the Golden Bears this spring after competing for Santa Clara last season. She'll be joined by an player recruiting class ranked in the Top-10 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer. High School All-Americans Angelina Anderson and Jadyn Shinn headline the class, joined by fellow standouts Lily Arbabaraghi, Ally Brecher, Ella Collier, Mia Fontana, Natalie Hueston and Kaylee Nguyen.
 
For more information and updates throughout the year, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWSoc), Instagram (@CalWSoc), and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalWSoc).