BERKELEY – One of the oldest rivalries in Bay Area women's soccer returns to Berkeley on Sunday afternoon, as California hosts Santa Clara at 1 p.m. PT at Edwards Stadium. The series between the Golden Bears (1-0-0) and Broncos (1-0-0) dates back to 1982, with Cal holding a 20-17-7 advantage. The Golden Bears have won three of the last four meetings between the teams, but fell to the Broncos in double-overtime last season in Santa Clara.
Sunday's game will be aired live on Pac-12 Network, with Cal alumna Kate Scott and Santa Clara grad Aly Wagner on the call. Live stats for the game will be available
here.
Cal opened the 2017 campaign with a 2-1 victory over UC Irvine on Friday evening at Edwards Stadium, led by a brace from sophomore forward
Abi Kim. The Vashon, Washington-product opened the scoring in the 19
th minute off a feed from freshman
Emma Westin, before the Anteaters drew a penalty and equalized in the 32
nd minute. Kim tallied her second goal of the day in the 69
th minute, which proved to be the game winner as the Golden Bears' defense held strong in the second half. Friday's performance marked the first career multi-goal game for Kim, who tallied three goals and three assists during her freshman campaign.
Playing in her first game in nearly two years, midfielder
Guro Bergsvand assisted Kim's game-winner, marking an impressive return from injury. The senior captain missed all of the 2016 season and most of the 2015 campaign battling injuries. Bergsvand played 68 minutes in Friday's match vs the Anteaters, tallying one assist and three shots.
The victory over UC Irvine was one for the record books for head coach
Neil McGuire, who became the all-time wins leader in Cal women's soccer history with 125 victories. Now in his 11
th season in Berkeley, McGuire has an overall record of 125-63-25 at Cal and has helped the Golden Bears to the NCAA Tournament every year of his tenure.
Cal's 11-member freshman class – ranked No. 3 in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer – got its first taste of collegiate action on Friday, with five players making their Golden Bear debuts.
Emily Smith,
Emma Westin, and
Daisy Cleverley started Friday's opener, with Westin tallying an assist and Smith going the full 90 minutes.
Caroline Clark and
Kailee Gifford also saw significant minutes off the bench.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara started the 2017 season with a dramatic 2-1 victory over San Jose State on Friday night, as freshman Julie Doyle tallied the game-winner in the 88
th minute. Ranked No. 24 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, the Broncos return four All-West Coast Conference selections from last season's squad that reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Jerry Smith is now in his 31
st season with the Broncos and returns 2016 WCC Freshman of the Year Gudrun Arnardottir, as well as sophomore Maddy Gonzalez, the team's second leading scorer last season with five goals and three assists.
NEXT UP
The Bears will be back in action on Friday, when they travel across the Bay Bridge to face the University of San Francisco on Friday at 7 p.m. The Dons opened the season with a 2-1 victory over New Mexico. This will be Cal's first road game of the 2017 season. The Golden Bears went 5-3-2 in away games last season.
2017 TICKETS
Tickets are now available for sale for the 2017 Cal women's soccer season. Admission is $10 for adults,$5 for seniors, and $5 for youth. Cal students receive free admission and entry is free for grades 12 and below Monday through Thursday. For more information on tickets, call the Gold Standard Sales and Service line at (800) GO BEARS (462-3277) or visit the
CalBears.com ticket page.
STAY POSTED
Keep up-to-date on the Golden Bears throughout the year by following the team on Twitter (
@CalWSoc), Instagram (
@CalWSoc), and Facebook (
Facebook.com/CalWSoc).
