CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (5-6, 1-4 ACC) at LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (4-5, 1-4 ACC)

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2026 • 9 AM PT
UOFL LACROSSE STADIUM (LOUISVILLE, KY)

WATCH
— ACCNX/ESPN+ (Tom Lane, Play-By-Play; Patty Norton, Analyst)  

CALIFORNIA-LOUISVILLE LACROSSE HISTORY
— Cal and Louisville have played just once with the Cardinals a 10-9 winner in double overtime at California Memorial Stadium in Cal's first-ever ACC game on Feb. 22, 2025. Cal rallied from a 9-5 deficit in the contest to force overtime by scoring the final four goals in regulation with the final tally coming on a Courtney Wong goal on an assist from Avery Hoeft with 26 ticks remaining in regulation. The teams played a scoreless first overtime period before Louisville's Izzy Seikel connected on an unassisted goal with 5:25 to go in the second overtime for the game winner. 
                                                                                                                                                        
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR MORE WINS
— Each time Cal wins during the remainder of the 2026 season, the Golden Bears will reach some milestone starting with its next win, which would give Cal six wins for a third straight season. After posting at least six wins in each of the first 15 seasons of the program (1999-2013) the Bears have not had at least six wins in three straight campaigns since.  
— Two more wins this season would get Cal to seven wins for the first since the 2019 team finished 7-12. 
— Cal would get to eight victories for the first since the 2013 team was 9-7 with three more wins.
— Cal would finish at .500 or better also for the first time since 2013 with four more victories.
                                                                                                                                                        
LAST TIME OUT: CAL 18, MARIST 10 (MARCH 16, 2026)
— Cal scored 10 consecutive goals in the second half with the final five of the third period and the first five of the fourth to turn a two-point deficit midway through the third period into a runaway 18-10 victory over Marist in a nonconference game.
— The 18 goals scored by Cal were the Golden Bears' most since a 19-16 victory at Charlotte on April 11, 2025, as well as their most in a home game since a 19-10 win over Akron in their season opener on Feb. 9, 2024. 
— Courtney Wong led a season-high 12 different goal scorers with a career-high-tying four goals and also tied her career best with six points by adding two assists.
— Alina Hsu's three goals and three points were both career bests.
— Chloe Rand earned her first win and decision of the season in goal after entering the game in relief of starter Lulu Murphy with 4:46 remaining in the opening period and the Bears trailing 4-2. Rand allowed only five goals and picked up five saves in 44:07 of work before giving way to Sydney Partovi for the final 5:39 and the Bears leading 16-9 on her exit.

BEARS SPLIT FOUR-GAME HOMESTAND
— Cal concluded a season-long four-game homestand with its 18-10 win over Marist this past Monday. The homestand began March 7 with a 15-8 loss to No. 10 Boston College and also included a 17-10 win over Stonehill (March 9) and a 20-3 loss to No. 1 North Carolina (March 12).

BACK ON THE ROAD
— Cal is back on the road for each of its next three games at Louisville (March 21), Xavier (March 24) and No. 13 Notre Dame (March 28). The Bears will stay on the road for the entirety of its season-long three-game road trip over spring break that is Cal's fourth road journey of the 2026 campaign. Cal started the season with a two-game trip to San Diego State/USC (Feb. 6, 8), followed by a single game at Oregon (Feb. 19) and its first ACC trip to No. 23 Duke (Feb. 28) and No. 15 Syracuse (Mar. 3). Cal also has a trip across the Bay for its regular-season finale at No. 2 Stanford on Apr. 16.
   
TRIO OF WONG, MOES, HOEFT LEADING OFFENSE
— Courtney Wong has posted career highs and is Cal's leader in points (30) and goals (20), while tying a career-high and co-leading the club in assists (16) through 11 games. Emily Moes has 26 points on 19 goals and a career-high-tying seven assists, while Avery Hoeft has 24 points on eight goals and a team-high-tying 16 assists.
   
WONG MOVING UP ON CAL'S SINGLE-SEASON DRAW CONTROL RECORD
— Courtney Wong's 56 draw controls have moved her within 27 of Kennedy Goss' all-time single-season school record of 83 set in 2023. If Wong can remain on her current pace of 5.09 draw controls per game, she would break the record in Cal's final regular-season game at Stanford on April 16. Wong, who had a career-high 12 draw controls March 9 against Stonehill, ranks seventh in the ACC and 52nd nationally in draw controls per game. 

CAL LEADS ALL ACC TEAMS, PAGE ALL INDIVIDUALS IN GROUND BALLS
— Cal leads all Atlantic Coast Conference team with 173 ground balls, while Clara Page is the ACC's individual leader with a career-high 32, as well as second in the conference and ground balls per game (2.91). In addition, her nine caused turnovers are second on the team to the 10 recorded by Kennedy Herndon.

MURPHY TIED FOR SECOND NATIONALLY AMONG FRESHMEN IN SAVES
— Lulu Murphy is tied for second among the nation's freshman goalkeepers with 73 saves while ranking fifth overall in the ACC. Murphy is the first freshman to serve as Cal's primary starter in goal since Jenny Wilkens in 2016. Lily Rathbun also saw just over half of the team's action in net as a 2021 freshman.

RAND PICKS UP FIRST CAREER WIN IN THE NET
— Chloe Rand has seen increased action between the pipes off the bench over the last two games. She relieved starter Lulu Murphy at the end the first period against No. 1 North Carolina and picked up a career-high-tying 10 saves while allowing just nine goals during a 45:00 performance that tied for the second-most in her career. She relieved Murphy again against Marist with the Bears trailing 4-2 with 4:46 to go in the first period then went on to allow only five goals and make five saves during her 44:07 of action in a game the Bears went on to win 18-10. On the season, Rand sports an 8.39 goals against average in six games all off the bench and has recorded 22 saves while allowing 16 goals.

SCHEDULE SHIFTS
— Cal played its first five games of the 2026 season against unranked opponents and posted a 3-2 record in those contests but has played four of its last six against ranked teams and dropped all four (at No. 23 Duke, at No. 15 Syracuse, No. 10 Boston College, No. 1 North Carolina) with its lone victories over the stretch coming against in home games against unranked Stonehill and Marist. Cal will also play unranked teams in each of its next two contests at Louisville (March 21) and Xavier (March 24) before three of its first four against ranked teams at No. 13 Notre Dame (March 28), against No. 9 Clemson (April 3) and the regular-season finale at No. 2 Stanford (April 16). All seven currently ranked teams on Cal's 2026 schedule played in the NCAA Championship in 2025, with North Carolina winning the national title and Boston College reaching the semifinals
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LINEUP CHANGE
— Cal had the same starting lineup in each of its first seven games (Attack – Josie Lillquist, Ashleigh Masterson, Emily Moes, Courtney Wong; Midfield – Katie Bloomer, Annette Ciupek, Willow Cyr; Defense – Kennedy Herndon, Grace Kerr, Clara Page, Ari Tavoso; and Goalkeeper – Lulu Murphy). In each of the last four games, Avery Hoeft and Jane Middleton have started in place of Lillquist and Cyr.

FROM ONE-GOAL GAMES TO BIG MARGINS
— Three of Cal's first five games in 2026 were decided by a single goal with the Bears winning the first two at San Diego State (13-12) and at home against Florida State (10-9) before falling 13-12 to UC Davis in its most recent one-goal contest on Feb. 23. Each of Cal's last six games have been decided by at least seven goals with the most recent an 18-10 win over Marist on Monday.

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS
— Cal has a 9-3 record in nonconference games over the last two seasons since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference prior to the 2025 campaign, posting a 6-1 mark in 2025 and a 4-2 record through its first six nonconference contests of 2026. The Bears have only one regular-season nonconference game remaining in 2026 at Xavier (March 24).

WEATHER REPORT
— The Weather Channel forecast for Louisville on Saturday at first draw at high Noon CT calls for mostly cloudy skies, a 1% chance of precipitation, a temperature of 67 degrees, 53% humidity and winds out of the east/southeast at 5 miles per hour. If the temperature forecast at first draw holds true it will be the eighth time in Cal's first 12 games, including each of the last six with a temperature of either 65 degrees or above at first draw (at USC, at Duke, Boston College, Stonehill, North Carolina, Marist, Louisville) or indoors (at Syracuse). 
— The differences in weather the Bears played in during two back-to-back road games earlier this season was dramatic. On Feb. 8 at USC in Los Angeles, it was 81 degrees under sunny skies at first draw before the Bears' game Feb. 19 in Eugene, Oregon was 41 degrees.
   
HEAD COACH JENNIFER WONG
— Jennifer Wong is in her fourth season as the Cal lacrosse head coach. In each of her first three campaigns with the Bears, Wong's team has posted a better winning percentage than in the previous season.
— Wong is the only Cal head coach to have won the season opener in each of her first four campaigns.
— Wong led Cal to its first-ever ACC win this season with a 10-9 victory over Florida State on Feb. 13.
— Wong was named Cal's head coach on Aug. 30, 2022, following a long and successful coaching tenure on the staff at Temple, where she spent 14 campaigns as an assistant (2008-09, 2011-15) and associate head coach (2016-22) over two stints.

LONG TRIPS TO BERKELEY
— Seven of the eight teams to visit California Memorial Stadium in 2026 will come from more than 2,500 miles away. UC Davis, who Cal played on Feb. 23, is the Golden Bears' only home opponent in the Pacific Time Zone and just over 60 miles away.

BEARS IN BORDERING STATES
— Cal does not have anyone on the roster from the state of Kentucky but does have three who list hometowns in the bordering states of Illinois (Annette Ciupek, Ari Tavoso) and Indiana (Sophie Mock).

WE ARE CALIFORNIA
— When referencing any California athletic team, please use either "California" or "Cal" to denote the institution and "Golden Bears" or "Bears" when indicating the mascot. Please do not use any other references.

THE FIRST 11 GAMES
— Cal 13, at San Diego State 12 (Feb. 6): Maddie Willkomm's first career goal with 6:01 remaining was the game-winner and final score in a contest that neither team ever led by more than two goals.
— at USC 16, Cal 9 (Feb. 8): Cal led by a pair of goals in the first quarter and hung tough for most of the opening half before USC pulled away. Courtney Wong and Emily Moes each had four goals for the Bears.
— at Cal 10, Florida State 9 (Feb. 13): Cal won its first-ever ACC lacrosse game as Emily Moes scored the game-winner with a free position goal with 1:38 remaining.
— Cal 14, at Oregon 9 (Feb. 19): Josie Lillquist and Courtney Wong led the way with six points each as Cal improved to 3-1 for its best start since 2007.
— UC Davis 13, at Cal 12 (Feb. 23): Cal led by a pair of goals in the fourth period but could not hold on as the Aggies scored the final three goals. Maddie Willkomm had a career-high four goals.
— at No. 23 Duke 16, Cal 7 (Feb. 28): Cal never led as the Blue Devils scored the game's first four goals/ The Golden Bears would never pull any closer than three the rest of the way. Courtney Wong scored three of Cal's seven goals.
— at No. 15 Syracuse 13, Cal 3 (Mar. 3): Cal was able to stay close for much of the opening period largely in part to goalkeeper Lulu Murphy fending off six of the first eight shots she faced but Syracuse pulled away in the second quarter and led 10-1 at halftime.
— at No. 10 Boston College 15, Cal 7 (Mar. 7): Cal stayed within striking distance of No. 10 Boston College and trailed only 7-5 late in the third period until the Eagles' put away the contest with four straight goals.
— at Cal 17, Stonehill 10 (Mar. 9): Cal scored nine goals in the fourth period after the game had been tied 8-8. Megan Moes' four goals and one assist led 10 Cal goal scorers and 12 who had at least one point.
— No. 1 North Carolina 20, at Cal 3 (Mar. 12): North Carolina scored all 11 of the goals in the opening period and led 13-0 before Katie McMullen got the Golden Bears on the board late in the second stanza.
— at Cal 18, Marist 10 (Mar. 16): Cal scored 10 consecutive goals in the second half to turn a two-point deficit midway through the third period into a runaway victory. Courtney Wong led a season-high 12 goal scorers with four and added two assists for a career-high-tying six points.