THURSDAY, SEPT. 5
NORTHEASTERN (1-1) AT CAL (1-0) | 4 P.M. PT | UNDERHILL FIELD | BERKELEY, CALIF.
LIVE STREAM: ACCNX | LIVE STATS: CALBEARS.COM

FRIDAY, SEPT. 6
KENT STATE (0-2) AT CAL (1-0) | 4 P.M. PT | UNDERHILL FIELD | BERKELEY, CALIF.
LIVE STREAM: ACCNX | LIVE STATS: CALBEARS.COM



BERKELEY - The California field hockey team resumes its season-opening four-game homestand this week with matchups against Northeastern on Thursday and Kent State on Friday. The Golden Bears are coming off a thrilling overtime victory over Michigan State in their 2024 season opener last weekend. Both games this week will air on ACC Network Extra/ESPN+ and live stats will be available for both contests as well.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Bears registered an exciting 2-1 overtime victory over Michigan State in their 2024 season opener on Sunday. Freshman Liz Klompmaker scored both goals for Cal, including the game-winner 1:57 into the first extra session. The Bears' defense, anchored by goalkeeper Tina Jolly and midfielder Canisha van Duyn, held the Spartans scoreless from the 25:55 mark until the end of the game.
 
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 will be making their NCAA debuts. Noemie Mekki (Paris) and Canisha van Duyn (Emmen, Netherlands) will be making their first collegiate appearances 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 Dechar, 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 323-232 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.

ABOUT NORTHEASTERN
The Huskies are off to a 1-1 start this season, having fallen to No. 17 Boston College before knocking off Quinnipiac in their last game. Northeastern trailed Boston College just 2-1 in the second quarter of its season opener but couldn't get any closer in a 3-1 defeat. Against Quinnipiac, the Huskies fell behind 2-0 only to storm back for a 3-2 win in a game in which Northeastern outshot the Bobcats, 31-6.

ABOUT KENT STATE
The Golden Flashes dropped the first two games on their schedule, falling to Indiana 3-1 and No. 11 Liberty 4-1. Kent St. trailed the Hoosiers 2-1 midway through the third quarter but couldn't get any closer, and were tied with the Eagles 1-1 in the second period before falling.