Huskies Look To Bounce Back Against Golden Bears

BERKELEY, Calif. – UW women’s soccer will conclude its Bay Area road trip against No. 12 California Sunday, Oct. 5 as the Huskies are seeking their first conference victory of the season.

UW (7-4-0, 0-2-0 Pac-12) is coming off a tough 4-1 loss to No. 3 Stanford. Forward Ryan Walker-Hartshorn netted a hat trick to lead the Cardinal. UW freshman Kimby Keever scored her fifth goal of the season as the Huskies became just the second team to score on Stanford this season.

The Dawgs are led by senior forward Jaclyn Softli, who has recorded a single-season career high six goals. Keever has two assists to go with her five goals. Keeper Megan Kufeld has 37 saves and is giving up 1.45 goals per game.

The Golden Bears dropped their last outing to undefeated Washington St. The Cougars scored an 81st-minute goal to steal one on the road from Cal, dropping the Bears to 9-2-0 on the season and 1-1-0 on Pac-12 play.

Taylor Comeau leads the Golden Bears with six goals and five assists, while Kelly Fitzgerald has contributed five goals. Cal was picked to finish third in the Pac-12 preseason poll behind UCLA and Stanford.

This will be the 24th meeting between the two schools. They have split the previous 23 meetings, as both teams hold a record of 11-11-1 against the other. Cal has dominated the series as of late, as the Bears are unbeaten against the Huskies since 2008.

The Huskies have some strong connections to Cal. Head coach Lesle Gallimore spent four years as an All-American centerback for the Golden Bears and four years as an assistant. She was named the 1986 Women’s Intercollegiate Athlete of the Decade and was inducted in the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. Senior midfielder Kate Bennett spent two years at Cal before transferring to UW to complete her collegiate career.

Sunday’s game is set to kick off at 1 p.m. PT. Fans can follow the action live on Twitter at @UW_WSoccer.