California Golden Bears Athletics
California
#8 Wake Forest
No. 14 Bears Host No. 8 Wake Forest, No 3 Duke In Final Homestand
10/7/2026 1:00 PM | Field Hockey
Cal welcomes two top-10 ACC opponents and celebrates Senior Day
The No. 14 California field hockey team (7-3, 1-2 ACC) will host its final homestand this weekend, welcoming No. 8 Wake Forest (7-4, 2-1 ACC) and No. 3 Duke (9-2, 4-0 ACC). The Golden Bears will face the Demon Deacons at 6 p.m. Friday followed by a Sunday matchup with the Blue Devils at noon. Sunday's game will also be Senior Day as the Bears celebrate Elizabeth Edmonston, Lauren Halenkamp, Jaiya Labana, Holly Pears and Carine Van Wiechen.
Cal and Wake Forest last met last season in North Carolina where the Bears fell 6-2. The Demon Deacons lead the all-time series 11-0.
Sunday marks the 12th meeting between Cal and Duke. The Blue Devils also lead the all-time series 11-0 with their last matchup coming in the first round of the ACC Championship last season. Cal fell 7-1 after scoring the first goal of the match and fighting through illness.
After this weekend's matches, Cal will remain in California but head to UC Davis to face the Aggies at 1 p.m. Oct. 18.
Last Time Out
The Bears swept the competition in Virginia last weekend to extend their road record to 4-0. Cal took on VCU to start the weekend last Friday and shut out the Rams 4-0. The Bears outshot the Rams 15-3 and had three different goal scorers.
Josefina Moyano put Cal on the board first five minutes into the game off a crossing ball from Cato Arlman. The Bears' next goal came in the final minutes of the second quarter when Pears took the ball down the left side of the field and ripped a shot into the cage to extend Cal's lead to 2-0. Pears netted another goal in the third quarter to put the Bears up 3-0 going into the final quarter Liz Klompmaker scored Cal's fourth and final goal of the day after weaving through the Rams' defense and drilled the ball into the cage to secure a 4-0 victory.
Sunday's upset over then-No. 11 Virginia marked the Bears' first ACC win and was their first time beating the Cavaliers since 2011. Cal dominated offensively, outshooting Virginia 25-6 and earning 17 penalty corners to the Cavaliers' two.
Virginia struck first with a first-quarter goal off a penalty corner but the Bears' defense held firm, allowing just four shots for the remainder of the game, highlighted by a key save from Van Wiechen on a stroke. Cal answered with the equalizer in the end of the third quarter when Adya Kadam found Moyano in the circle who found the back of the cage. Neither team could break through in the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime.
The Bears came out for the extra period hungry, earning a corner 12 seconds into overtime. Cal's offense was relentless in the circle, earning four back-to-back penalty corners. On the fourth attempt, Pears inserted the ball to Klompmaker, who sent a direct shot into the left corner of the cage to pull out the 2-1 overtime victory.
Following the weekend, Cal remained in the latest Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll, released Tuesday, moving up to No. 14. It's the Bears' highest ranking since 2011 when they reached No. 11. The Bears also rank No. 12 in the NCAA's Division I RPI as of Oct. 4.
About the Demon Deacons
Wake Forest is coming off a weekend split after beating fellow ACC opponent Boston College 2-1 and falling to then No. 8 Harvard 2-1. The Demon Deacons are 2-1 in conference play and dropped to No. 8 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll.
Bianca Rees-Gibbs leads Wake Forest and the ACC with 22 points registered off 11 goals. Ava Moore also highlights the Demon Deacons' offense, recording 18 points from nine goals.
Ruby Butterfield has appeared in all but one game in the cage for Wake Forest, recording 30 saves with a .732 save percentage.
About the Blue Devils
Duke picked up an ACC win over then-No.9 Syracuse and a nonconference win over Saint Joseph's last weekend, extending its winning streak to seven. The Blue Devils are 4-0 in conference play, sitting in first place as the only undefeated team.
Ashley Stockdale leads the Duke with 14 points off six goals and two assists. Alaina McVeigh follows closely behind with 13 points from four goals and five assists.
Kaiya Chepow has anchored the Blue Devils' defense in the cage, recording 28 saves with a .757 save percentage. Chepow was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week and NFHCA Defensive player of the week for Sept. 29. The junior leads the ACC in goals against average (0.82) and shutouts (5).
2025 Recap
The California field hockey team finished the 2025 season with a record of 8-8 and a 3-5 mark in ACC play. The Golden Bears were featured in the Penn Monto/NFHCA DI National Coaches Poll at No. 19 after a sweep at home last October, beating Boston College in a two-overtime thriller followed by an upset over No. 5 Syracuse. The Bears then swept the ACC Player of the Week honors with Liz Klompmaker being named Offensive Player of the Week and goalie Delphine Ayitey-Hammond being named Defensive Player of the Week.
The Bears advanced to the ACC Championship after finishing the regular season tied for fifth place, but fell short in the first round to Duke. This marked the last game for the previous Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey, Shellie Onstead, following 30 years at the helm.
The Bears were led by Klompmaker, who topped the team in points (34), goals (16) and game-winning goals (4). Klompmaker scored in 11 of 16 games during the 2025 season, including three multi-goal performances. Klompmaker was named a third-team NFHCA All-American and earned first-team NFHCA All-Region and All-ACC honors.
New Coaching Era
This season marks the first under the leadership of the Donna Fong Co-Directors of Field Hockey, Tara and Steve Danielson. Tara Danielson comes to Cal after serving as the head coach at Stanford alongside Steve Danielson from 2010 through '21, and Steve Danielson spent the previous five seasons as the associate head coach at New Hampshire. Together, the coaching pair brings more than 30 years of coaching experience, highlighted by NCAA Tournament success, international competition and developing student-athletes into All-Americans and nationally recognized players.
Fresh Faces
The Golden Bears welcome five new players to this year's roster, which includes four freshmen and one graduate transfer. Highlighting this year's newcomers are freshman Maria Scocco and graduate transfer Carine Van Wiechen. Scocco was a standout for her high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, St. Georges College North. Van Wiechen was a consistent presence in the cage for Boston College last season, allowing only 10 goals in 12 appearances.
Returning Experience
Cal will have plenty of experience coming back as it returns seven full-time starters from last season, headlined by Klompmaker, who was named to the Preseason All-ACC team. Also expected to make an impact is senior Holly Pears. Pears ranked third on the team in points (11) last season, highlighted by scoring the game-winning overtime goal against UC Davis.
STAY POSTED
For coverage of Cal field hockey, please follow the Bears on X (@CalFieldHockey), Instagram (@CalFieldHockey) and Facebook (/CalFH/).
