CORNELL BIG RED (2-0, 0-0 IVY LEAGUE) at CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (1-3, 0-1 PAC-12)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2023 • 1 PM PST
CALIFORNIA MEMORIAL STADIUM • BERKELEY, CA
 

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BEARS HOST BIG RED IN HOME OPENER
— Cal plays the first of three consecutive games at California Memorial Stadium on Saturday in its home opener against Cornell with first draw at 1 pm
— The game will be the first athletic event on the recently installed new field at California Memorial Stadium 
— Cornell leads the all-time series, 4-0, with the wins for the Big Red including a 12-4 victory the last time the teams played on March 23, 2016, in Ithaca, New York, as well a 23-6 win the last time they met in Berkeley on March 29, 2015
— Cal and Cornell were scheduled to meet again in Berkeley on March 29, 2020, but the contest was cancelled due to COVID
— The weather forecast for Saturday in Berkeley is for partly cloudy skies with a high temperature of 50 and a low of 41 with winds out of the northwest at nine miles per hour

GOLDEN BEARS FALL 11-9 AT SAN DIEGO STATE IN MOST RECENT CONTEST
— Cal spotted San Diego State a 4-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest before keeping the margin within four goals the remainder of the way
— Golden Bears got to within 4-3 with 12:15 remaining in the second quarter in large part due to a defense that the Aztecs from getting their fifth goal for the next 15:29, with Caroline Roxas scoring her first collegiate goal during the span on an assist from Maya Lawliss with 8:10 to go in the first quarter and then Lawliss getting a pair of unassisted goals with 5:38 remaining in the first and 12:15 to go in the second
— Cal trailed 7-4 at half and cut the Aztec lead to two goals three times in the second but never got closer
— Lawliss and Quinnlyn Mason each had a hat trick, while Lawliss added an assist for a team-high four points, while Amanda Morse had two goals and Roxas one
— Kate Rothman and Josie Lillquist each matched Lawliss' single assist 
— Kennedy Goss and Courtney Wong shared the team lead with three draw controls, Charlotte Smith and Annette Ciupek each had a team-high-tying three ground balls, and Kacie Riggs picked up a team-best two caused turnovers    
— Alicia Souliotis entered the game in goal after the Aztecs' fourth tally 3:47 into the contest and played the rest of the way, recording 13 saves while allowing only seven goals over the final 56:13

YOUTH MOVEMENT
— Cal has had 10 players make their Golden Bear debuts in 2023 in Ella Anhut, Annette Ciupek, Avery Hoeft, Josie Lillquist, Clara Page, Amanda Pio, Chloe Rand, Charlotte Smith, Mya Wang and Courtney Wong, with all but Smith (a transfer from James Madison) playing for the first time collegiately
— Anhut, Lillquist, Caroline Roxas, Smith, Kate Rothman, Wang and Wong have each scored the first goal of their collegiate careers during the first four contests

FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH JENNIFER WONG
— Jennifer Wong picked up her first win at Cal in her Golden Bear debut February 10 at Lindenwood
— Wong is the fifth head coach in Cal history following Jill Malko (1999-2007), Theresa Sherry (2008-11), Ginger Miles (2012-14) and Brooke Eubanks (2015-22)
— Wong spent 14 seasons over two stints on the coaching staff at Temple (2008-09, 2011-22) including the last seven campaigns as the Owls' associate head coach (2016-22)

MORE NOTES
— Cal has played three goalkeepers in the first four contests with Riley Drullinger starting three times but Alicia Souliotis seeing the most action in each of the last two contests at Stanford (38:35) and San Diego State (56:13) including her first career start against the Cardinal, while Chloe Rand also got into a collegiate game for the first time at Stanford
— Kennedy Goss has moved up two spots since the beginning of the season into fifth on Cal's all-time list with 134 draw controls and within 44 of Cal's all-time record (178, LizaBanks Campagna, 2018-21)  
— Maya Lawliss became the first Cal player to ever be named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week when the league's first weekly honors of the 2023 season were announced February 14
— Cal is celebrating the 25th season of women's lacrosse in 2023 with the program first gaining intercollegiate status in 1999 as a member of the Western Women's Lacrosse League