Cal Hosts SDSU On Senior Day
CALIFORNIA LACROSSE GAME NOTES
SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS (2-12, 1-4 PAC-12) AT CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (4-9, 1-4 PAC-12)
SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024 • 11 AM PDt • SENIOR DAY
CALIFORNIA MEMORIAL STADIUM (BERKELEY, CA)
CAL HOSTS SDSU ON SENIOR DAY; POTENTIAL PAC-12 TOURNAMENT BERTH ON THE LINE
— The winner of Saturday's California-San Diego State game will clinch a spot in the Pac-12 Tournament next month should Oregon lose either of its final two games against Arizona State (April 20) or at Colorado (April 27). Cal and San Diego State are currently tied for sixth place along with Oregon at 1-4 in conference play, but both have beaten the Ducks to own the first tiebreaker. All three teams could still finish as high as fourth in the Pac-12 regular season as they are just a single game back of Arizona State and UC Davis with 2-3 league marks. The top six of eight Pac-12 teams qualify for the league's tournament.
— The Golden Bears have dropped four straight games (No. 20 Colorado, at No. 21 USC, at Arizona State, UC Davis) after opening Pac-12 play with a win at Oregon, while San Diego State had lost 12 in a row overall including its first four Pac-12 contests (Arizona State, at UC Davis, at Colorado, Stanford) before knocking off Oregon at home in its most recent outing last Saturday. It was SDSU's first-ever Pac-12 win.
— Cal and San Diego State are playing each other in a Pac-12 game for the first time, with the Aztecs having joined the league in 2024. San Diego State leads the all-time series, 10-3, and has won the last nine in a row since Cal was a 10-9 overtime winner in Berkeley in 2016.
— San Diego State has won the last three games in Berkeley with its most recent victory at Cal a 15-6 decision in 2022. The Aztecs were also 12-11 winners at Cal in both 2018 and 2021.
— Saturday's forecast in Berkeley at first draw is calling sunny skies with a 0% chance of precipitation, a temperature of 62 degrees, and winds out of the southwest at nine miles per hour.
— First draw is at 11 a.m., which is a change from the originally published start time.
CAL TO HONOR SEVEN SATURDAY ON SENIOR DAY
— Seven Cal seniors (Addie Fischer, Callan Fritsch, Kennedy Goss, Simone Holland, Kate Rothman, Caroline Roxas, Charlotte Smith) will be at California Memorial Stadium on Saturday for their final regular-season game with the Bears. Holland, Goss and Rothman have spent their entire four-year collegiate careers at Cal, while Roxas is in her third season at Cal and Smith her second after transferring from Wagner and James Madison, respectively. Fischer (Villanova) and Fritsch (Drexel) came to Cal as graduate transfers for the 2024 campaign.
LAST TIME OUT: CAL DROPS TOUGH 12-11 DECISION TO UC DAVIS
— Cal led most of the way before falling, 12-11, to UC Davis on a cold and damp afternoon last Saturday at California Memorial Stadium. The Bears held a 7-4 advantage at intermission but a pair of second-half Aggie scoring runs led UC Davis to a comeback victory. The Aggies scored the first five goals of the second half to erase the three-goal halftime deficit and post a 9-7 advantage, but the Bears answered with four consecutive goals of their own to take an 11-9 lead before the Aggies scored the game's last three goals over the final 6:19.
— Kennedy Goss equaled a career-high-tying four goals to pace the Bears.
OTHER NOTABLES
— Cal has dominated draw controls this season with a .599 percentage that is second in the Pac-12 and 11th nationally. The Bears have won the draw control battle in 11 of 13 games this season. Kennedy Goss leads Cal with 68 draw controls and is both the Bears' all-time (270) and single-season (83, 2023) leader with her career total ranking fourth all-time in the Pac-12. Goss ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and is tied for 51st nationally in draw controls this year.
— Cal ranks fifth in the Pac-12 and tied for 37th nationally in scoring defense (10.54 goals against per game). The Bears have given up more than 10 goals only four times this season but three times in their last four contests.
— Goalkeeper Callan Fritsch is third in the Pac-12 in save percentage with a .447 mark that is 40th nationally. Fritsch also ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in both goals against average (10.88, No. 43 NCAA) and saves (88, No. T83 NCAA).
— Cal is playing its sixth and final season in the Pac-12 before officially joining the ACC on Aug. 2.