Cal Concludes Road Contests at No. 25 ASU, Arizona

BERKELEY, Calif. -- With just five games left in the regular season, California heads to Arizona for its final road weekend of 2014. The Golden Bears meet the No. 25 Sun Devils on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m., then take on the Wildcats on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. Cal’s match vs. Arizona will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks, and scoring updates for both games will be provided on the @CalWomensSoccer Twitter account.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears returned home for a quick pitstop in Berkeley in the midst of four road games to host Utah.

The Utes were the first to get on the board in the 29th minute and escaped the first half with the only goal of the day thus far. When Cal returned from halftime, the Bears quickly put up two goals of their own in the 48th and 59th minutes from Celeste Boureille and Grace Leer, respectively. Unfortunately, Cal was unable to hold the score and allowed Utah the equalizer in the 72nd minute, forcing the game into double overtime and what eventually amounted to a draw. It was Cal’s first tie result of the season.

RANKINGS ROUNDUP
In this week’s polls, the Bears appear on: TopDrawerSoccer (20) and BennettRank (21). Cal is also receiving votes in the NSCAA poll.

In the NCAA RPI, Cal checks in at No. 19.

TOP 100 FRESHMEN
Four California freshmen are ranked in the latest TopDrawerSoccer.com Women’s Freshmen Top 100 rankings: Annia Mejia (No. 3), Indigo Gibson (18), Emily Boyd (24) and Guro Bergsvand (28).

The four players all came in with Cal’s most recent recruiting class, which was ranked a top five recruiting class in the country.

MORE BEAR BITES:

• As a team, Cal ranks in the top 50 nationally for scoring offense (No. 32), points (38), total goals (40), total points (47) and assists (49).

• Cal has outscored opponents 32-15 (opponent goals include own goal vs. Cal Poly).

• Seven different Cal players have scored in Pac-12 play.

• Cal’s 32 goals have come from 12 different players. In 2013, just nine players recorded a goal for the season.

• The Bears have garnered six penalty kicks this season, successfully converting all but one (5-6). In 2013, Cal accrued just three penalty kicks throughout 21 games.

• Every healthy member of the Golden Bear roster has appeared in a game this season.

SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE

No. 25 Arizona State enters the weekend with an 8-2-4 overall record and holds a 1-1-3 mark in Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils are fresh off a 2-0 win against USC after having their nine-game unbeaten streak come to an end the previous weekend with a loss and a tie against Washington and Washington State, respectively. The squad is led by junior Cali Farquharson, who ranks first in the conference in total goals (12) and total points (27). Reigning Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week Chandler Morris anchors ASU’s defense as she tops the conference in both save percentage (.915) and saves (43) and ranks third in both games against average (.60) and shutouts (3) in league games. Arizona State was tabbed eighth in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, and currently sits fifth in the conference standings.

SCOUTING ARIZONA

Arizona (9-4-1, 3-3-0 Pac-12) will host No. 4 Stanford on Friday before welcoming the Golden Bears to Mulcahy Stadium. UA enters the weekend riding a two-game losing streak after taking consecutive losses to Washington and UCLA last week. Sunday’s matchup marks the 20th meeting between the squads as Cal holds a 15-2-2 advantage in the overall series. For the Wildcats, 10 student-athletes have scored 26 goals on the year for the sixth-best total among Pac-12 schools. Freshman Gabi Stoian leads the squad with 22 points (eight goals and six assists) through 14 games. The rookie is one of only six athletes in school history to tally a hat trick in a match, and her 21 points this season rank sixth in UA history.