No. 17 Cal Closes Regular Season at Stanford - California Golden Bears Athletics

The No. 17 California field hockey team (9-6, 2-5 ACC) faces longtime rival Stanford (9-7, 1-6 ACC) to close out the regular season on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. PT on The Farm.

Cal and Stanford's rivalry dates to 1976, when the teams first met in Berkeley. Thursday's contest will mark the 126th meeting between the programs, with Stanford leading the all-time series 62-58-5. The Golden Bears won last year's matchup 3-1 in Berkeley on Senior Night. Liz Klompmaker scored twice, while Holly Pears netted a goal to secure the victory.

Following Thursday's contest, the Bears will turn their attention to the ACC Championship, which begins next week. Cal currently sits in seventh place in the conference standings with a 2-5 record. If the standings remain unchanged, the Bears would face the No. 2 seed at 12:30 p.m. PT on Nov. 3. All ACC Championship games will air on ACC Network.

Last Time Out
The Bears split a pair of ACC road contests last weekend, defeating Boston College 2-1 with a late offensive surge before falling to then-No. 14 Syracuse in a shootout 2-1. The win over the Eagles marked Cal's second ACC victory, keeping the Bears in seventh place in the conference standings.

Boston College struck first last Friday, and the Eagles held a 1-0 lead late into the fourth quarter. The Bears were awarded a stroke with just over two minutes remaining. Klompmaker's attempt was saved, but Cal quickly regained possession on the Eagles' outlet. Maria Scocco found Klompmaker in the circle, from where she fired a reverse chip into the top-right corner to even the score at 1-1.

With the game tied and 30 seconds remaining, it appeared the contest was headed for overtime. Maria DiGiulio, however, sent an aerial into the circle, where a Boston College defender mishandled the ball. Pears immediately gained possession and sent a reverse chip into the back of the net. Her goal secured Cal's 2-1 victory with just 21.2 seconds remaining.

On Sunday, the Bears faced Syracuse in another tightly contested ACC matchup. Both teams started slowly on offense, but the Orange gained momentum in the second quarter, scoring off a penalty corner.

Syracuse held a 1-0 lead until late in the third quarter, when the Bears earned a penalty corner. Pears inserted the ball to Cato Arlman, who stopped it for Klompmaker. The junior forward fired a direct shot into the bottom-left corner of the cage to tie the game at 1-1. The goal was Klompmaker's 14th of the season, with Pears and Arlman credited with assists.

Neither team could break through in the fourth quarter, sending the game to overtime. The Bears dominated offensively in the extra period, outshooting the Orange 5-1. Anchored by Carine Van Wiechen, Cal's defense continued to hold strong, denying Syracuse a winning goal. Despite several opportunities, the Bears could not find the net, and the score remained tied at the end of overtime, forcing a shootout.

Syracuse converted three of its five attempts, with Taylor Bigbie, Hattie Madden and Aubrey Turner scoring. Moyano and Scocco converted for Cal, but Klompmaker, Pears and Arlman were unable to convert their attempts. The Orange won the shootout 3-2 to secure the 2-1 victory.

After another multi-goal weekend, Klompmaker increased her career total to 45 goals, tying Lara Kruggel (2011-15) and Nora Feddersen (2000-04) for second in California's all-time scoring rankings.

Following the weekend, Cal remained in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll for the seventh consecutive week. The Bears moved to No. 17 in Tuesday's rankings and ranked No. 21 in the NCAA Division I RPI as of last Sunday.

About the Stanford Cardinal
Stanford is coming off an 0-2 weekend after dropping both of its ACC matchups against then-No. 14 Syracuse and Boston College. The Cardinal held the lead twice against the Orange but fell 3-2 before dropping its Sunday matchup with Boston College 3-0. Stanford sits in ninth place in the ACC, with its lone conference win coming in an overtime thriller against then-No. 3 Duke.

Star Horlock leads the Cardinal in both goals and points this season. The senior has scored nine goals and recorded two assists for 20 points. Jenny O'Grady ranks second with 11 points on five goals and one assist, while Natalie Hoppe has 10 points on two goals and six assists.

Anya Jackson has started every game in goal for Stanford this season. The junior has recorded a .725 save percentage and a 2.15 goals-against average. Jackson has posted a career-high nine wins this season, highlighted by her second career shutout in the Cardinal's 1-0 win over UC Davis on Oct. 16.

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