BERKELEY – The California field hockey team wraps up the regular season this weekend when it travels to the East Coast for a pair of America East contests. The Golden Bears begin the trip taking on New Hampshire on Friday at 11 a.m. PT. On Sunday, Cal travels to Maine to take on the Black Bears. Both contests will feature live video and live stats and will have seeding implications for the upcoming America East Tournament.
 
GAME 15 INFORMATION
Date/Time: October 27, 2023 – 11 a.m. PT   
Opponent: New Hampshire
Site: Aggie Memorial Field (Durham, NH)
Live Video: AE.tv
Live Stats: CalBears.com
 
GAME 16 INFORMATION
Date/Time: October 29, 2023 – 9 a.m. PT   
Opponent: Maine
Site: Aggie UMaine Field Hockey Complex (Orono, ME)
Live Video: TBD
Live Stats: TBD
 
 
 
AT A GLANCE

• The Golden Bears enter this weekend having already clinched a berth in the America East Tournament. At 7-7 overall and 3-3 in the America East, the Bears will be seeded anywhere from fourth to sixth place in the conference tournament.
• Last time Out: The Bears honored nine student-athletes on Senior Day in a pregame ceremony and proceeded to demolish visiting UC Davis 7-0 last Saturday. Four seniors scored for Cal with forwards Bente Baekers, Kitty Baccanello, and Daniella Rhodes scoring two goals apiece. With the win over the Aggies, the Bears went 3-1 against their Northern California foes this year.  
• Lucky Number 13: The duo of Baekers and Rhodes both notched their 13th goal of the season last Saturday. The 26 combined goals is the most by a Cal duo since Andrea Earle (16) and Jordan O'Reilly (11) combined to score 27 goals in 2011.  
• One Away From 100: Bente Baekers scored again for the Bears, giving her 99 for her career. With at least three games to play, she needs to score just one more goal to become the 14th player in NCAA history to score 100 or more in a career. Baekers, a graduate transfer from Northwestern, scored 86 goals for the Wildcats. She is tied with Rhodes for the team lead with 13 goals this season.  
• On the Attack: Cal is one of the top-scoring teams in the nation. The Bears are ranked No. 4 nationally and second in the America East, averaging 3.45 goals per contest. Three players rank in the top 60 in goals per game: Daniella Rhodes (8^th – 1.00 gpg), Baekers (12th – 0.93), and Kitty Baccanello (58th – 0.50).
• Cracking The Top-10: With 49 goals scored this season, Cal has cracked the program top-10 for goals scored in a single season. The record belongs to the 2006 team which scored 79 goals. With two more goals scored the Bears will become just the seventh team to score 50 or more goals in a season.
• Defensive Stalwarts: The Bears' defense has been stellar this season. Cal  has allowed just 27 goals on 140 shots this season – 1.92 goals per game and 10.0 shots per contest. The 27 goals allowed are currently the third-fewest goals allowed by the Bears since 2005. The fewest goals allowed since was 21 by the 2008 team. The last time the Bears allowed 30 or fewer goals in a single season was in 2021 when Cal held opponents to 28 goals.
• Adding Up The Minutes: Senior stalwarts Kiki de Bruijne and Claire Hind have logged a lot of time on the field in their careers. The duo have combined to play 6,142 minutes in 114 career games played, averaging 53.87 minutes per contest.

 
ABOUT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE  
UNH enters this weekend at 11-5 overall and 6-1 in America East play.. Last time out, the Wildcats saw their three-match winning streak snapped with a 6-1 loss to UAlbany. UNH is currently tied with UAlbany at the top of the America East standings. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 3.44 goals per game and 15.8 shots per contest. Leading the team and conference in goals scored is sophomore forward Tasmin Cookman (18). Defensively, UNH has allowed 31 goals and 12.8 shots per contest. Keeper Jemma Woods has 70 saves on the year and boasts a goals against average of 1.92.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Sunday marks the 12th meeting between the two teams. Cal first faced New Hampshire on Nov. 20, 1980, at the AIAW National Championships with Cal winning that contest 2-0. Last time out, UNH defeated the Bears 5-2 on Oct. 9, 2022, snapping a four-game winning streak by the Bears.    
 
ABOUT THE MAINE 
Depending Friday's outcome between Cal and UNH, the contest between the Golden Bears and Black Bears will decide the final standings in the America East Tournament. Maine enters this week with an overall record of 7-10 and is 3-4 in the America East. The Black Bears have lost four of their last five games, including two in a row. At home, they are 6-6 this season. As a team, they have scored 31 goals but have allowed 41. Maine averages 11.3 shots per game while their opponents average 11.5 shots per contest. Sophomore forward Mallory Mackesy leads the team with 12 goals on the year. In goal, the Black Bears are led by fifth-year keeper Mallory Drayer who is 5-7 on the year, tallying 47 saves with a 2.59 goals against average.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday will be the 11th meeting between Cal and Maine. Maine owns an all-time 7-3 advantage in the series that dates back to Oct. 6, 1988, when Maine defeated Cal 3-2 in double overtime. Last time out, a late goal was the difference as No. 22 Maine defeated Cal 4-3 on Oct. 7, 2022.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will wait to find out their opponent in the 2023 America East Tournament. Tournament location and game time is still to be determined, however, the Bears will be playing on Thursday, Nov. 2.
 
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