Cal Returns To West Coast To Battle UC Davis This Week
BERKELEY - Winners of three of its last four to open America East Conference play, the California field hockey team returns to Northern California for the next two weeks. The Golden Bears (7-4, 3-1) will play once this week, heading to UC Davis to face the Aggies on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 1 p.m.
Through the first 11 games of the season, Anne Van Hoof is Cal's leading scorer with 10 points (five goals). Rachel Buttinger and Maddie Cleat are right behind Van Hoof with eight points each. Kiki de Bruijne is Cal's assist leader (3), and nine Bears have tallied at least one point.
The Bears are currently tied for second in the AE standings with their record of 7-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play. UC Davis is currently in last place with a record of 5-7 and 1-4 in conference play. Cal will play conference games during the final three weeks of the regular season.
Bears Split Weekend On East Coast
• Cal overcame a 4-1 loss at No. 25 Maine last Friday to shut out Vermont, 2-0. The loss to the Black Bears marked the Bears' fifth ranked opponent this fall, while the win over the Catamounts, featured Cal's fourth shutout victory of the campaign.
Offense Dominates In Wins
• In Cal's seven wins this season, the Bears have outscored their opponents, 14-4, with four shutouts. Fourteen of the Bears' 16 goals this season have come in victories. Cal has also out shot its opponents, 100-59, in wins. Five of the seven wins were one-goal victories, including an OT winner on Sept. 26 at UMass-Lowell.
Cato Earns Another Shutout
• A week after being named the America East Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28, Cal goalkeeper Cato Knipping put together another standout performance last weekend. Knipping earned her seventh career shutout - fourth this season - in Cal's 2-0 win at Vermont, making six saves. Knipping ranks second in the America East in goals-against average at 1.52, while her four shutouts are tied for first in the conference. She also ranks fourth in save percentage (.723).
Cal All-time Vs. UC Davis
• Cal is 27-7-1 all-time vs. UC Davis, and the Bears have won seven of the last nine, including the most-recent meeting during the 2021 spring season. The Bears have defeated the Aggies by the score of 3-2 in double overtime in each of the last two meetings in Berkeley. Megan Connors tallied the game winner in the most-recent meeting.
Cleat Carries Cal
• Enjoying her fifth season at Cal as a graduate student with the extra year granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, team captain Maddie Cleat is leaving it all on the pitch during her final collegiate campaign. Cleat scored two of the Bears' three goals last weekend, including an impressive backhanded shot after getting around her defender at Vermont last Sunday. She currently ranks tied for second on the team in points with eight (three goals, two assists). The Scotland native also ranks second on her squad in shots (23) and shots on goal (14).
Smart Bears
• A program-record group of 23 Cal field hockey student-athletes were honored with 2020 Zag Field Hockey/NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad laurels. Cato Knipping, Natalie Moore, Sara Stone and Kaiden Stanley were tabbed NFHCA Scholars of Distinction with Knipping earning the honor for the second straight year. Cal was also once again tabbed an NFHCA National Academic Squad. In addition, 22 Bears earned America East Honor Roll accolades, with 16 picking up AE Commissioner's Honor Roll stature (3.5 GPA or better). Earlier this week, Cal won the Newmark Award for the highest GPA (3.603) among Cal's large women's programs.
Next Up
• Cal battles Stanford for Senior Night and Pack The Stands in the final home game of the season on Friday, Oct. 22, at 5 p.m. from Underhill Field. The game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks.