BERKELEY – California women's soccer was one of 64 teams to earn a bid to play in the 2022 NCAA Division I Championship, announced by the NCAA Selection Committee on Monday afternoon. This is the first time the program has been selected to compete in the College Cup since 2019. The Bears will face Bay Area rival Santa Clara in the first round at 1 p.m. at Stevens Stadium in Santa Clara on Saturday.
 
The Golden Bears had a standout regular season, posting a 10-4-6 overall record and a 5-3-3 record in the Pac-12. Cal finished fourth in the conference standings, its first time breaking into the top-four since 2015. Cal is one of five Pac-12 teams to earn a postseason bid alongside Stanford, UCLA, USC and Arizona State.
 
The Bears went unbeaten in their last five games of the regular season, most recently earning a 1-1 draw with No. 7 Stanford, which won the conference championship this year. Cal blanked nine teams this season, six of which came with standout goalkeeper Angelina Anderson. Anderson was awarded Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 12 and, after starting the season in fourth place, she now ranks second on Cal's all-time shutout list with her 26 career clean sheets.
 
Anderson and Cal's defense, led by fellow captain Sydney Collins, who won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12 and 19, only allowed 16 goals the entire season, whilst Cal's offense scored 28 goals, the most scores since 2019 when the team collected 32.  
 
Keely Roy, the team's leading scorer and shot-taker, ranks 27th nationally and third in the conference with 11 goals this season. In her sophomore campaign, Ayo Oke logged nine assists to reach the top of the conference rankings and 15th place in the national rankings for total assists. She also ranks 18th in the nation for assists per game with her 0.50 record. Fellow sophomore Karlie Lema continued her dominant Cal career after she became the fourth freshman to ever lead the team in scoring in 2021. This season, she scored five goals and had two assists to bring her season point total up to 12.
 
The upcoming matchup with Santa Clara will be the seventh time the Bears and the Broncos meet in the postseason and their third consecutive matchup in the first round. In their most recent postseason contest, Cal battled in a tightly contested match but fell to Santa Clara 1-0 in overtime.
 
In 2022, the two teams went head-to-head on Sept. 11 when the Bears handed the Broncos a 1-0 final score on their opponent's own turf. The match was the sixth consecutive unbeaten result for the Bears in their opening run at the start of the 2022 season. Anysa Gray scored the game-winner and Anderson made two saves to keep Santa Clara scoreless.
 
Tickets for Saturday's 1 p.m. match can be purchased here. Fans can also watch the first round of the NCAA Tournament via live stream.
 
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