CALIFORNIA-DUKE LACROSSE HISTORY
— Duke leads the all-time series, 2-0.
— The Blue Devils were 19-7 winners the first time the teams played in a neutral-site game in Denver on Feb. 15, 2009.
— Duke also won 13-4 in Durham last season on March 21, 2025. Cal kept the game with a then-No. 13 Duke squad close in the first half of their 2025 meeting, trailing 5-3 at the intermission before the Blue Devils outscored the Golden Bears in the second half, 9-1.
— All four of Cal's goal scorers from the 2025 game – Annette Ciupek, Ashleigh Masterson, Emily Moes and Courtney Wong – are starters on the 2026 squad.

LAST TIME OUT: UC DAVIS 13, CAL 12 (FEB. 23, 2026)
— Cal led by a pair of goals in the fourth period but could not hold on to its lead in a 13-12 loss to UC Davis on Monday evening in Berkeley. The Aggies scored the final three goals of the nonconference contest between the former Pac-12 rivals capped by Lauren Picardi's unassisted game-winner with 1:22 remaining. UC Davis won the draw control following Picardi's game-winner and was able to run out the clock without the Bears getting another possession. The game was tied 10-10 after three quarters before Cal moved ahead 12-10 after Maddie Willkomm started the fourth period by scoring her final two goals of a career-high four. But they were the last goals the Bears would score, while the Aggies found the back of the net three more times.

GOOD START
— With three wins in its first five games, a victory in Saturday's contest at Duke would move the Golden Bears to 4-2 after six games for the first time since the 2018 squad started 4-2, which at the time was Cal's best start since the 2007 team opened 5-1. The 2023 squad had the best start in school history at 8-1.  

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS
— Cal has an 8-3 record in nonconference games over the last two seasons since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference prior to the 2025 campaign, posting a 6-1 mark in 2025 and a 2-2 record through its first four nonconference contests of 2026.

SCHEDULE SHIFT
— Cal has played its first five games of the 2026 regular season against unranked opponents but will face teams currently ranked in the IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll in seven of their final 12 regular-season outings starting Saturday at No. 23 Duke and followed by games against No. 12 Syracuse (March 3), No. 11 Boston College (March 7), No. 1 North Carolina (March 12), No. 8 Notre Dame (March 28), No. 9 Clemson (April 3) and No. 2 Stanford (April 16). All seven teams on Cal's remaining schedule that are currently ranked in the 2026 poll played in the 16-team NCAA Championship in 2025, with North Carolina the national champion and Boston College reaching the semifinals.    

FIRST ACC WIN
— Cal's 10-9 victory over Florida State in its 2026 ACC and home opener on Feb. 13 was the Golden Bears' first-ever ACC win, as well as its first victory in a conference opener since a 2019 Pac-12 home win over Oregon. Cal was 0-9 in conference games in its first season in the ACC in 2025.
 
LOTS OF CLOSE GAMES
— Three of Cal's first five games in 2026 have been decided by a single goal with the Bears winning each of its first two single-goal outcomes in 2026 at San Diego State (13-12) and at home against Florida State (10-9) before falling 13-12 to UC Davis in its most recent one-goal contest. On the season, Cal is being outscored by a single goal 59-58.   

WONG, MOES AND LILLQUIST LEADING THE WAY ON OFFENSE
— Courtney Wong (23 points – 10 goals, 13 assists), Emily Moes (16 points – 12 goals, 4 assists) and Josie Lillquist (12 points – 9 goals, 3 assists) are the team's top three scorers through five games with the trio having accounted for 57.3 percent (51-of-89) of the squad's points in 2026. Wong's season totals for points and assists are team highs, while Moes' goals are a team best.

SAME STARTERS
— Cal has had the same starting lineup in each of its first five games in 2026 with the group including attackers Josie Lillquist, Ashleigh Masterson, Emily Moes and Courtney Wong; midfielders Katie Bloomer, Annette Ciupek, Willow Cyr and Ari Tavoso; defenders Kennedy Herndon, Grace Kerr and Clara Page; and goalkeeper Lulu Murphy. 

FRESHMAN GOALKEEPER LULU MURPHY
— Lulu Murphy is the first freshman to serve as Cal's primary starter in in goal for Cal since Jenny Wilkens in 2016. Lily Rathbun also saw just over half of the team's action in the nets as a 2021 freshman. Murphy ranks second among the nation's freshman with her 37 saves in the first five games. 

DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
— Cal is giving up only 11.8 goals per game through the first five games of 2026 after allowing 14.0 per contest in 2025. Cal allowed just nine goals in each contest in back-to-back wins against Florida State and at UC Davis.

WEATHER
— The AccuWeather forecast for Durham on Saturday at first draw calls for mostly sunny skies, a 0% chance of precipitation, a temperature of 66 degrees, and winds out of the north at six miles per hour.
— The differences in weather during Cal's last two road games was drastic. On Feb. 8 at USC in Los Angeles, it was 81 degrees under sunny skies at first draw before dropping 40 degrees to 41 in Eugene, Oregon, on Feb. 19.   

HEAD COACH JENNIFER WONG
— Jennifer Wong is in her fourth season as the Cal lacrosse head coach in 2026. In each of her first three campaigns with the Golden Bears, Wong's team has posted a better record than in the previous season.
— Wong is the only head coach in Cal lacrosse history to have won the season-opener in each of her first four campaigns.
— Wong was named Cal's head coach on Aug. 30, 2022, following a long and successful coaching tenure on the staff at Temple, where she spent 14 campaigns during two stints from 2008-09 and 2011-22.

THE ROAD AHEAD
— Cal's two-game road trip at Duke (Feb. 28) and Syracuse (March 3) is its third trip of four outside the Bay Area during the 2026 season with its visits to San Diego State/USC (Feb. 6-8) and Oregon (Feb. 19) already on the books. The Golden Bears' final regular-season road trip out of the Bay Area is a three-game, nine-day journey at Louisville (March 21), Xavier (March 24) and Notre Dame (March 28). Cal also has a trip across the Bay for the regular-season finale at Stanford on April 16.

LONG TRIPS TO BERKELEY
— Cal is scheduled to host eight games at California Memorial Stadium in 2026 with seven teams visiting from more than 2,500 miles away. UC Davis is the only opponent of the eight in the Pacific Time Zone and just over 60 miles away.

HOMETOWN HERO
— Cal sophomore Ardyn Henry is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, who played prep lacrosse and won four state titles at Charlotte Latin School. Henry earned NCISAA All-State and USA Lacrosse Academic All-American honors in each of her final three prep campaigns. Henry also played for the Charlotte Style club lacrosse team.