NO. 19 USC TROJANS (8-2, 3-0 PAC-12) AT CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (3-6, 1-2 PAC-12)
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2023 • 3 PM PDT
CALIFORNIA MEMORIAL STADIUM • BERKELEY, CA

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BEARS RETURN HOME TO HOST USC AFTER 12-DAY BREAK
— Cal begins a stretch of five home games over its final eight regular-season contests by returning to action after 12 days off by hosting USC on Friday
— USC holds a 14-1 advantage in the all-time series and has won each of the last 14 meetings between the teams, including a sweep in 2022 when the Trojans won 19-9 victory in Berkeley on March 18 and 20-11 in Los Angeles on April 8
— The lone Cal win in the series came the first time the squads played on April 12, 2013, in Los Angeles, while the Trojans have won all six times the teams have played in Berkeley
— Cal nearly ended what was then an 11-game USC win streak in Los Angeles in 2021 in the second and final meeting of the season between the teams, scoring twice in the final minute of regulation to send the contest into overtime before falling, 12-11
— The game is the fourth of Cal's 10 scheduled Pac-12 contests on its 2023 regular-season slate, with the only nonconference game remaining an April 15 matchup at UC Davis
— The weather forecast for Friday in Berkeley is calling for partly cloudy skies a temperature of 57 degrees, and winds out of the west and southwest at eight miles per hour at first draw

LAST TIME OUT: CAL FALLS 20-3 AT COLORADO
— The Buffs scored the first seven goals of the contest with the Bears not getting on the board until Courtney Wong connected on an assist from Amanda Morse with 7:35 to go in the second period
— Morse added a goal when she scored unassisted with 3:30 to go in the second, while Maya Lawliss scored with 5:22 remaining in the third on an assist from Quinnlyn Mason
— Alicia Souliotis played the first 45:41 and allowed 15 goals with nine saves, while Riley Drullinger gave up five goals with two saves over the final 14:19

NOTABLES
— Eight Cal players have started all nine games this season — Kennedy Goss, Maya Lawliss, Kennedy Mason, Quinnlyn Mason, Amanda Morse, Amanda Pio, Kacie Riggs and Charlotte Smith
— Cal has had 11 players make their Bear debuts in 2023 in nine freshmen — Elle Anhut, Annette Ciupek, Brynn Gallagher, Avery Hoeft, Josie Lillquist, Clara Page, Amanda Pio, Chloe Rand and Courtney Wong — as well as sophomore Mya Wang and junior Charlotte Smith (a transfer from James Madison), with all but Smith also playing for their first time collegiately
— Cal's victory at Oregon on March 17 was its first Pac-12 road win since a 2019 triumph at Arizona State and only the third since the Pac-12 began sponsoring lacrosse in 2018
— Lawliss became the first Cal player to ever be named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week when the league's first weekly honors of the 2023 season were announced on Feb. 14
—Since the beginning of the season, Goss has moved up four spots into third on Cal's all-time list with 161 draw controls and is within 17 of the school's all-time record of 178 set by LizaBanks Campagna (2018-21), while Megan Takacs is second with 174
— When Cal scores at least 13 goals the Bears are 3-0, but when the Bears score 12 or fewer they are 0-6
— Cal had a season-high 15 caused turnovers in its 11-10 loss to American on March 12
— Cal's three wins in 2023 are its most since going 7-12 in 2019
— Six Cal players have combined for 12 hat tricks in 2023, with Quinnlyn Mason and Amanda Morse leading the way with three each, while Maya Lawliss and Mya Wang have two each, and Kennedy Mason and Belle Tiesi one apiece
— First-year head coach Jennifer Wong picked up her first win at Cal in the season opener and her Bear debut Feb. 10 at Lindenwood, got her second and first home victory arch 9 against Howard, and registered her third and first Pac-12 victory March 17 at Oregon
— Cal will host the 2023 Pac-12 Championship May 3-6 at California Memorial Stadium, with quarterfinal and semifinal games scheduled for May 3 and 4 at 4:30 and 7 p.m. each day and the final on May 6 slated to start at noon
— Cal is celebrating its 25th season of lacrosse in 2023, with the program first gaining intercollegiate status in 1999 as a member of the Western Women's Lacrosse League