FRIDAY, SEPT. 20
CAL (4-0) AT No. 3 Virginia (5-0) | 3 P.M. PT | TURF FIELD | CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
LIVE STREAM: ACCNX | LIVE STATS: CLICK HERE

SUNDAY, SEPT. 22
CAL (4-0) AT JAMES MADISON (3-1) | 9 A.M. PT | JMU FIELD HOCKEY COMPLEX | HARRISONBURG, VA.
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ | LIVE STATS: CLICK HERE

The California field hockey team will begin its three-game road trip starting Friday in Charlottesville, Virginia, where the Golden Bears take on No. 3 Virginia at Turf Field. It will be the Bears' first-ever ACC matchup in program history since joining the conference and the first road game of the 2024 season. Coverage will be available on ACC Network/ESPN+ and live stats will be available for both contest as well.

Cal will face off against its toughest challenger so far, as the Bears will look to earn their first top-five win of the season. With a victory, Cal would extend its winning streak to five games, which would mark its best start since the 2011 season (5-0). As a team, the Bears rank eighth in the nation in assists per game (3.00) and save percentage (.818).

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS
Virginia enters Friday's game as one of the five unbeaten teams in the nation. The two teams have met a total of four times and have split the all-time series, 2-2. This will be the first matchup between the teams in 13 years. In the last meeting No. 11 Cal pulled out an overtime victory against No. 18 Virginia on Sept.17, 2011.

ABOUT THE DUKES
James Madison is currently 3-1 on the season and will take on Miami (Ohio) on Friday before Sunday's matchup. The Dukes' lone loss came against Monmouth, which overcame a late 3-1 deficit to a earn the 4-3 victory. Sunday will mark the sixth meeting between the two teams, and the Dukes have never lost to the Bears.

LAST TIME OUT
Cal defeated UC Davis 2-0 to move to 4-0 on the season. After a scoreless first half, the Bears scored the first goal of the game early in the third period after freshman Liz Klompmaker drained her fifth goal of the year off assists from graduate student Canisha van Duyn and freshman Pauline Lingnau. Later, freshman Maya Hoepfner scored her first goal of the season to give Cal the 2-0 win, with senior Sophie Everett and van Duyn assisting on the goal. The Bears held the Aggies to only two shots throughout the game and handed UC Davis its second shutout loss of the season.

2023 RECAP
The Bears made sure their final year in the America East Conference was a memorable one, winning the AE Tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years. Cal gave an indication of what type of season it might be early on when it knocked off No. 5 Penn State in the fourth game of the year.
 
The Bears finished in fourth place in the America East standings and then had a thrilling run to the AE Tournament title, winning all three of their games by one goal - including the final two in overtime. They knocked off top-seeded UMass-Lowell in the semifinals before ousting No. 2 Albany for the championship.
 
After the season, graduate student Daniella Rhodes was named to the NFHCA All-West Region First Team while fellow grad transfer Bente Baekers and senior Kiki de Bruijne garnered second-team accolades. It marked just the third time in program history the Bears have had three players earn all-region honors in the same season.
 
WELCOME TO THE ACC
The University of California, Berkeley, announced last Sept. 1 that its athletic department was joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. With that, the Bears join arguably the top field hockey conference in the country. North Carolina has won five of the past six NCAA championships, and seven ACC teams are ranked in the NFHCA preseason poll. Cal plays its first ACC game ever when it visits No. 3 Virginia on Sept. 20.
 
THE NEWCOMERS
The Bears welcome 10 new players to this year's roster, including two international graduate transfers who are making their NCAA debuts. Noemie Mekki (Paris) and Canisha van Duyn (Emmen, Netherlands) are playing their first collegiate seasons after accomplished club and international careers. Mekki was the captain of France's U21 national team last summer.  Another graduate transfer from The Netherlands - Carmel van Dijk - spent her undergraduate career at Fairfield and was an All-NEC Second-Team selection last season.
 
RETURNING EXPERIENCE
Despite the loss of several key players from last year's America East championship team, the Bears still have a hefty dose of experience with seniors Sophie Everett and Sydney Decher, junior goalkeeper Tina Jolly and sophomores Holly Pears and Anjana Pioch. Pears is Cal's returning leading point-scorer with five goals and two assists last season while Pioch had the most starts of any returning field player with 16 last year. Jolly started every game in goal for the Bears last year while Everett and Dechar combined for 21 starts.
 
30 FOR ONSTEAD
Shellie Onstead enters her 30th season as the Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey. Onstead has a career record of 297-232 and has guided the Bears to 12 conference championships. She is a six-time NorPac Coach of the Year and has led Cal to six NCAA Tournament appearances. Onstead served as an assistant coach for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and was inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982. Onstead played at Cal from 1980-82 and was the program's first All-America player.