CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (3-8, 1-4 PAC-12) at NO. 21 USC TROJANS (9-3, 4-1 PAC-12)
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2023 • 3 PM PDT
MCALISTER FIELD • LOS ANGELES, CA

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BEARS BEGIN THREE STRAIGHT ON THE ROAD FRIDAY AT NO. 21 USC
— Cal (3-8, 1-4 Pac-12) will start the second half of its Pac-12 schedule and a string of three consecutive road games that will conclude its regular-season road slate Friday at No. 21 USC (9-3, 4-1)
— USC holds a 15-1 advantage in the all-time series and has won each of the last 15 meetings between the teams, including seven in a row in Los Angeles
— The lone Cal win in the series came the first time the squads played on April 12, 2013, in Los Angeles, while the Trojans have won all seven times the teams have played in Berkeley, most recently including last Friday
— Cal nearly ended what was then an 11-game USC win streak in the series in Los Angeles on April 16, 2021. In the second and final meeting of the 2021 season between the teams, Cal scored twice in the final minute of regulation to send the contest into overtime before falling, 12-11
— The game begins the second half of scheduled Pac-12 play with the only nonconference game remaining being an April 15 matchup at UC Davis
— The weather forecast for Friday in Los Angeles is calling for partly cloudy skies, a high temperature of 71 degrees, and winds out of the south at five miles per hour
 
LAST TIME OUT: CAL TOPPED BY ARIZONA STATE, 13-9
— Maya Lawliss picked up her team-leading fourth hat trick of the season but it was not enough in a 13-9 Pac-12 loss to Arizona State on April 2
— Cal scored three of the game's four third-period goals to pull within 11-8 with 3:55 remaining in the quarter but never got closer. Neither team scored for the next 15:35 before Arizona State tacked on a pair of goals in the final 3:20 while Cal scored the game's final goal
— Lawliss scored an unassisted goal in each of the opening three quarters (14:23 1Q, 14:14 2Q, 13:27 3Q) with her first coming on a free position shot, while Amanda Morse added two scores on assists from Kennedy Mason (11:46 1Q) and Quinnlyn Mason (3:55 3Q), and Kate Rothman (12:54 2Q), Mya Wang (2:35 3Q), Quinnlyn Mason (6:06 3Q) and Clara Page (1:29 4Q) also had unassisted goals with Rothman and Mason scoring on free position shots
 
NOTABLES
— Eight Cal players have started all nine games this season (Kennedy Goss, Maya Lawliss, Kennedy Mason, Quinnlyn Mason, Amanda Morse, Amanda Pio, Kacie Riggs and Charlotte Smith)
— Cal has had 11 players make their Bear debuts in 2023 including nine freshmen (Elle Anhut, Annette Ciupek, Brynn Gallagher, Avery Hoeft, Josie Lillquist, Clara Page, Amanda Pio, Chloe Rand and Courtney Wong), sophomore Mya Wang and junior Charlotte Smith (a transfer from James Madison), with all but Smith also playing for their first time collegiately
— Cal's victory at Oregon on March 17 was its first Pac-12 road win since a 2019 triumph at Arizona State and only the third since the Pac-12 began sponsoring lacrosse in 2018
— 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 on Feb. 14
—Since the beginning of the 2023 season, Goss has moved up four spots into third on Cal's all-time list with 171 draw controls and is within seven of the school's all-time record of 178 set by LizaBanks Campagna (2018-21), while Megan Takacs is second with 174
— When Cal scores at least 13 goals the Bears are 3-0, but when the Bears score 12 or fewer they are 0-8
— Cal registered a season-high 15 caused turnovers in an 11-10 loss to American on March 12
— Cal's three wins in 2023 are its most since going 7-12 in 2019
— First-year head coach Jennifer Wong picked up her first win at Cal in the season opener and her Bear debut Feb. 10 at Lindenwood, got her second and first home victory March 9 against Howard, and registered her third and first Pac-12 victory March 17 at Oregon
— Cal will host the 2023 Pac-12 Championship May 3-6 at California Memorial Stadium, with quarterfinal and semifinal games scheduled for May 3 and 4 at 4:30 and 7 p.m. each day and the final on May 6 slated to start at noon
— Cal is celebrating its 25th season of lacrosse in 2023, with the program first gaining intercollegiate status in 1999 as a member of the Western Women's Lacrosse League