BERKELEY – After a thrilling comeback against the Chinese National Team in an exhibition, California women's soccer will return to non-conference play against a pair of in-state rivals. The Bears will take on local opponent Saint Mary's (CA) on Thursday at 4 p.m. and fellow UC system school UC San Diego on Sunday at 4 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Cal men's soccer team.
 
In their last outing Cal trailed he China, the 16th-ranked national team in the world, at 1-0 and 2-1, but both times found ways to come back and earn a draw. Karlie Lema and Keely Roy scored for the Bears in an exciting game in front of a raucous crowd at Edwards Stadium.
 
The Bears will look to utilize that experience along with the return of Ayo Oke and Teagan Wy, who rejoined the team after playing with the U.S. U-20 National team at the U-20 World Cup this month, to propel them into their next set of matches.
 
Last year, Cal played both Saint Mary's (CA) and UC San Diego, the Bears earned a 3-0 win over UC San Diego in the 2021 season opener. That was the first time the two schools had played since 1987 as Cal moved to 3-0 all-time against the Tritons. They played Saint Mary's (CA) to a 1-1 draw at Edwards Stadium and are now 17-8-5 all-time against the Gaels. 
 
Thursday's contest against Saint Mary's (CA) will be live streamed, while Sunday's game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network. Ted Enberg is on the call for the match, which will be seen on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Bay Area.
 
STIFLING DEFENSE
Cal has had one of the best defenses in the country in 2021, allowing only 0.94 goals per game and only 9.67 shots per contest. Cal has controlled possession in the majority of their contests leading to a 13.3-9.7 advantage in shots. The Bears only permitted opponents to register 69 shots on goal in 18 contests, 3.83 on-target attempts per game. They bettered that in their first game of 2022, allowing UC Irvine to take only two shots on target across 90 minutes.
 
Consequently, the Bears posted seven shutouts in 18 games and only allowed more than one goal in five games last year.
 
A-PLUS ANGIE
Angelina Anderson is now fifth on Cal's all-time saves list with 201 in her career. Anderson also has 20 career shutouts and is tied for fourth on the school's all-time shutouts list after recording seven shutouts in 2021.
 
Anderson was named National Freshman of the Year in 2019 as well as Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and Freshman of the Year. She was the first player to win both Freshman of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year in the conference. She earned second-team All-Pac-12 in 2020-21 and third team honors in 2021 as she's proven to be one of the top shot stoppers in the nation.
 
RETURNING PRODUCTION
The Bears bring back the majority of the team that played during the 2021 season. The squad finished the season with a three-win improvement from the previous season.
 
For the 2022 season, 30 players from last year's team return and only five players that saw minutes last year depart. Cal returns 149 starts from last year's team. Cal also brings back 14 of the 15 players that recorded points last year including 17 of the 18 goals and all 17 assists.
 
The Bears return student-athletes who have combined for 352 starts and 626 games played in their Cal careers. 
 
BEARS MAKE BIG ADDITIONS
Cal only adds three players to the roster for the 2022 season, but they're all expected to make big contributions. Cal's lone freshman is goalkeeper Teagan Wy. Wy has been with USYNT at 11 different camps and tournaments and was rated as the 18th-best prospect in the class of 2022. She helped the USA to the 2018 CONCACAF Championship as the starting goalkeeper.
 
The Bears also add a familiar face in Kailee Gifford. Gifford spent four seasons at Cal, playing in 50 games and making 31 starts as a defender. She transferred to Pepperdine last year and started in all 10 games before getting hurt. She returns to Cal to use her final year of eligibility in 2022.
 
The Bears also add Mya Daily to the team in 2022 as a transfer from Long Beach State. Daily started at center back for the Beach, helping them lead the Big-West in goals against average and being named to the All-Big West freshman team.
 
NO. 1 RECRUITING CLASS MAKES GOOD
The Bears signed the top-ranked recruiting class in the country according to TopDrawerSoccer in 2021. The group of 12 players are in their second year in the program after some standout performances as freshmen.
 
Noelle Bond-Flasza, Cailin Bloom, Courtney Boone, Maya Griffin, Velize King, Kei Kitamura, Karlie Lema, Ari Manrique, Aasha McLyn, Ayo Oke, Aaliyah Schinaman, Alexis Wright and Jordyn Young make up the class.
 
Three of the Bears' top four scorers in 2021 were freshman: Karlie Lema (6 goals, 12 points) led the team while Ari Manrique (1 goal, 4 points), Jordyn Young (1 goal, 3 points) and Ayo Oke (1 goal, 3 points) also had an immediate impact.
 
Noelle Bond-Flasza (16 games), Courtney Boone (8 starts, Pac-12 Defender of the Week), Maya Griffin, Alexis Wright (2 assists) and Velize King have all seen time.
 
Oke, Bond-Flasza and Wright impressed enough to be called up to their respective National Teams for the CONCACAF U20 Championship in 2022.
 
Of the 12 recruits, 11 were ranked in the Top-200, including No. 25 Oke, No. 28 Manrique, and No. 36 Lema. TopDrawerSoccer gave nine recruits a four-star rating, with two rated as three-star athletes. Seven athletes have national team experience.
 
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