After opening up its ACC schedule with four points on the road last week, the California women's soccer team is taking a quick break from conference play to host San Francisco Bay Area rival Santa Clara on Saturday at Edwards Stadium. The 4 p.m. PT matinee with the Broncos is the Golden Bears' final nonconference match of the regular season.
 
The Bears come into the week riding a five-match unbeaten streak that features two 2-1 wins and two shutouts. Most recently Cal defeated Pitt 2-1 on the road last Thursday in its conference opener before earning a 2-2 draw Sunday with a Clemson team that is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Broncos, who are also receiving votes, suffered three straight losses to ranked opponents in August but are a perfect 3-0 in their last three contests.
 
Match Information                                                                                                                                          
 
Santa Clara (4-3-0, 0-0-0 WCC)
·       Date and Time: Saturday, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. PT
·       Location: Berkeley, CA – Edwards Stadium
·       Live Stream: ACCNX/ESPN+ (PXP: Phillip Hall, Analyst: Keely Roy)
·       Live Stats: Statbroadcast
 
Free Admission
All home matches at Edwards Stadium this season are free to the public and do not require tickets.
 
History
This will be the 56th meeting between the Bears and the Broncos, a Bay Area rivalry that dates back to 1982. Cal leads the all-time series 24-22-9. The two programs have faced off at least once a year since 2007 and have met in the NCAA Tournament eight times. The Broncos have won five of those postseason matchups.
 
Brace Yourself
Senior transfer Lumi Kostmayer doubled her season goals total on Sunday earning a brace on the road at Clemson. She scored in the 52nd minute on an assist from junior Miriam Hils and found the net again unassisted in the 60th to become the first Bear this year with a multigoal match. Kostmayer now leads the team with four goals and 10 points.
 
Wy Named ACC Defensive Player of the Week
Senior goalkeeper Teagan Wy was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 9.
 
Wy earned back-to-back shutouts for the third time in her career as she and the Golden Bears battled to scoreless draws against Washington State and Cal Poly. Wy posted a season-high seven saves in both matches while also making a handful of other key plays and breakups that helped preserve the two clean sheets.
 
The senior now leads the ACC with 43 total saves and a 4.30 saves per match average. Wy's 1.00 goals-against average and .811 save percentage this season are the top marks of her career, and she has tallied four or more saves in six of her last seven matches.
 
Spreading The Love
Cal's 13 goals this year have come off eight different boots with Lumi Kostmayer leading the way with four. Thirteen total Bears have accounted for the team's 38 points with all but three goals being assisted on so far. Eleven of the 13 goals have been scored by newcomers and Bears that missed all or most of last season with injuries.
 
200 Club
On Aug. 21 Cal head coach Neil McGuire achieved his 200th victory as the leader of the Golden Bears. The Bears' 3-2 win over San Francisco sealed the career milestone for McGuire, who is the program's all-time wins leader. His Cal record currently sits at 202-118-58 and he has 246 wins in his career.
 
Warm Welcome
Two new forwards helped lead Cal to its 3-2 win over UCSD in the season opener. It took 5 minutes and 56 seconds for freshman Elhom Khursand to earn her first collegiate assist, playing a ball into Coco Thistle, who scored to tie the match at 1-1. Senior transfer Lumi Kostmayer scored the go-ahead goal in spectacular fashion, chipping the Triton goalkeeper from outside the 18-yard box in the 25th minute. Kostmayer currently ranks first on the team with two goals, 17 shots and 289 minutes played at the forward position.
 
Warm Welcome Back
The first match of the season saw the return of two Bears that all missed all of last season with injuries. Senior midfielder Coco Thistle, who missed all of last season with a cancer scare and back issues, played and started in her first match in 665 days and scored an early equalizer in the sixth minute.
 
Seventh-year forward Mia Fontana, who missed all last year with a torn ACL, made her return and tallied 25 minutes in her first match in 660 days. She had a chance at a goal of her own but was taken down in the box by a UCSD defender, leading to a penalty kick. In stepped Soleil Dimry, who missed most of last season with an injury of her own. The junior forward scored what would be the game winner on that PK.
 
Wy Named Preseason All-ACC
For the second straight year, goalkeeper Teagan Wy was named to the Preseason All-ACC team as selected by the conference's head coaches.
 
The 14-player team featured just one keeper spot, giving Wy the nod of being the best at her position heading into the season in what is widely regarded as the top conference in the sport.
 
Despite missing a large portion of last season to lead Team USA to a bronze medal at the 2024 U20 FIFA World Cup, Wy was named Second Team All-ACC. She ranked in the top 10 of the ACC with a .788 save percentage and 1.14 goals-against average for the overall season. In ACC play, she ranked fourth with a .794 save percentage, seventh with 4.50 saves per game, and eighth with 1.246 goals against average. Wy ended the regular season with a 6-3-0 record.
 
Wy continuously showed up big when the lights were brightest, making a career-high nine saves vs. No. 3 North Carolina, including a PK stop with just 11 seconds to go before the Bears ultimately fell to the eventual national champions. Wy picked up her first shutout of the season vs. No. 16 Pitt, making five saves in the win, and added five more saves in 56 scoreless minutes against No. 1 Duke before leaving the match with an injury. Wy capped off the season with another seven saves on the road at No. 4 Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Championship.
 
Year 2
Cal enters its second year in the ACC, which features many of the top teams in the sport. Nine ACC teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship last year. The Bears faced all four teams that made the Women's College Cup during the regular season and posted a 1-2-1 record against them.
 
2024 Recap
The Cal women's soccer team enjoyed a successful inaugural ACC season in 2024, highlighted by its first win in the NCAA Championship in 10 years. The Bears posted a 13-6-2 overall record with a 5-4-1 ACC mark. Both records are the team's most wins and highest win percentage since 2019. 
 
Cal added three ranked wins, two of which came on the road over No. 14 Stanford and No. 22 Pepperdine. The Bears also had their most wins at home in 15 years, going 9-2-1 at Edwards Stadium. Finishing tied for seventh out of 17 teams in the ACC, the Bears narrowly missed the six-team ACC tournament but were selected to their 28th NCAA Championship. Cal went on the road and defeated host Pepperdine in double overtime in the first round, giving the Bears their first NCAA Championship road victory in 12 years. 
 
Perhaps the biggest story of the year was the outstanding season of senior Karlie Lema, who was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-ACC. After scoring 15 goals in the first three years of her career, Lema erupted with 16 during her final season, which was the third most in the country and the fourth most in Cal history in a single year. She totaled 38 points, which was tied for the second most in the nation and is fifth in program history. Following her collegiate career, Lema signed with Bay FC, the local NWSL organization.
 
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