Cal at America East Tournament

Nov. 3-5 | Cushing Field | Lowell, Mass.
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The America East West Division champion Golden Bears begin postseason play Friday at the America East Tournament in Lowell, Mass. Cal, the West Division No. 2 seed, gets underway against East Division No. 3 seed New Hampshire on Friday at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET.

Should the Bears advance, they'll face East No. 1 seed Albany on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET for a spot in the championship game on Sunday afternoon. The Bears look to punch their first ticket to the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament since 2011 by earning the conference's automatic qualifying berth with a win in the championship game. 

All games will be played at Cushing Field on the UMass-Lowell campus.

Every game of the America East Field Hockey Tournament can be viewed on AmericaEast.TV. Information on each game and the full bracket can be found on the America East Championship Central page. Links to watch, as well as live stats, can also be accessed via the field hockey schedule page on CalBears.com. Follow @CalFieldHockey on Instagram and Twitter, plus Facebook.com/CalFH for a behind-the-scenes look at gameday and more.

NEED TO KNOW

• Four Golden Bears earned end-of-year honors from the America East: Megan Rodgers (All-Conference, All-Rookie), Femke Delissen (All-Conference, Mara Gutierrez (All-Conference) and Janaye Sakkas (All-Academic).

• Cal won the AE West Division this season after being predicted to finish third. 

• The Bears have not made it beyond the AE Tournament semifinals since joining the conference in 2015.

• Megan Rodgers ranks in Cal's Top 10 in single-season goals (7th, 16) and points (9th, 35).

• Melina Moore needs 3 more goals to join Cal's all-time top 10. She has 23 career goals.

LAST YEAR IN THE AE TOURNAMENT

Cal has never made it to the championship game of the America East Tournament, but made it as far as the semifinals last year when the Golden Bears fell to Stanford, 2-0. Cal beat Maine in the opening round, 3-2, before losing to the Cardinal. In their first season in the America East, the Bears lost in the first round of the tournament to Maine, 2-1, in overtime.

BEARS POST BEST CONFERENCE FINISH

California field hockey posted its best finish since the Golden Bears joined the America East Conference in 2015, clinching a share of the divisional title. The Bears posted a 4-2 conference record in the regular season for a three-way tie for the West Division crown alongside Stanford and Pacific.

Cal tied for third in each of its first two seasons in the America East, going 3-3 in 2015 and 1-5 in 2016. At the beginning of the season, the coaches of the America East predicted a third-place finish for the Bears. 

AMERICA EAST ACCOLADES

Four Golden Bears picked up end-of-season honors from the America East, led by two-time selection Megan Rodgers. The Cal rookie earned both All-Conference and All-Rookie honors after leading the conference in goals (16) and gamewinners (4). Mara Gutierrez earned her second consecutive All-Conference honor, and Femke Delissen was named to the All-Conference squad as well. Janaye Sakkas, who owns a 3.50 cumulative grade point average as a cognitive science major, earned her first America East All-Academic honor.

ON THE RECORD(S)

Several Golden Bears are climbing their way into the Cal record books, after leading the way in a strong 2017 campaign. 
• Freshman Megan Rodgers broke into Cal's Top 10 for single-season goals against Pacific, netting her 14th of the season. She's currently tied for seventh alongside Andrea Earle (2011) with 16 goals this season.
• Rodgers also ranks in Cal's Top 10 in points. She's inth with 35 points this season, tied with Shellie Onstead's 1981 total.
• Femke Delissen and Lindsay Mathison are nearing the Top 10 single-season mark for assists. Delissen has 9 assists and Mathison has 6. Each would join the top 10 by reaching 11 assists.
• Melina Moore's 23 career goals put her within three goals of joining Melissa Nerone (179-82) and Shellie Onstead (1980-82) at 10th all-time with 26 career goals. 

CAL COUNTS UP WEEKLY HONORS

California's accolades continue to grow with the Golden Bears claiming six America East weekly honors to date this season.

Megan Rodgers is the most recent Bear to earn conference laurels, taking home her third Rookie of the Week award this season. The frosh scored once in Cal's loss at Pacific, then added a goal and a point in a 4-2 Golden Bear victory over then-No. 14 Stanford. 

Rodgers also won Rookie of the Week on Oct. 3 after a brace in Cal's win at UC Davis on Sept. 29.

Melina Moore was voted Player of the Week in week 4 with three points on a goal and an assist in the Bears' conference-opening, 4-1 win against Pacific. The week prior, Cal swept the America East weekly awards with a perfect 2-0 weekend on the road. Rodgers scored five goals in two games to earn both Player and Rookie of the Week honors and Danielle Mentink earned the Defensive Player of the Week nod after allowing only one goal in 19 shots faced for a league-best 0.50 goals against average. 

FROSH FACES

Cal's nine-member freshman class includes five international standouts, as well as Bay Area products Morgan Peterson, Sara Deck and Callie Rose Goodman. Rookie Megan Rodgers spent her summer playing with the USA Field Hockey U-19 squad. Four have made their Golden Bear debuts -- Rodgers, Goodman, Maddie Cleat and Valen Garraffo.

UNDERHILL IMPROVEMENTS

The home of California field hockey received a slew of upgrades in the offseason. Among the newest improvements for Cal's second season of competition at the Underhill Field facility are permanent raised seating areas, team meeting and medical space, a press area and live stream capability installations.

RED, WHITE, BLUE & GOLD

In addition to head coach Shellie Onstead and both assistant coaches Malachi Mahan and Austin Pile holding national team playing or coaching experience, the Golden Bears have a long pipeline of individuals associated with Cal field hockey playing or working with Team USA. This year, both Katrina Carter (U-21) and Megan Rodgers (U-19) played with Team USA's development squads.

INTERNATIONAL INFLUX

While field hockey remains a growing sport in the United States, it is well-known internationally, and the Bears are receiving the benefits of its international appeal. Among Cal's 24-woman roster, seven student-athletes hail from a country outside of the United States: Lindsay Mathison (Australia), Femke Delissen (Netherlands), Maddie Cleat (Scotland), Victoria Struys (Belgium), Yvie Lock (UK), Valen Garraffo (Argentina) and Natalie Dalton (Canada). In addition, Sterre van Ede was born in South Africa, Struys has double nationality with Belgium/France and Dalton lived in Ireland as a child.

NEXT UP

Should California win the America East Tournament, the Bears would earn an automatic qualifier berth to the 2017 NCAA Field Hockey Tournament. The tournament field will be announced Monday, Nov. 6. Ten conferences will be awarded automatic qualification. The four lowest automatic-qualification teams will compete for two play-in berths. 

The championship is scheduled for Nov. 17-19 at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. Four programs will punch tickets to Kentucky, with semis set for Nov. 17 and the championship game set for Nov. 19.

Cal's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in 2011, when the Bears won the NorPac Tournament and appeared in a Play-In game. They finished the season with a 16-4 overall record.