The California field hockey team announced its 2026 schedule Monday, which will mark the program's 50th season and feature a 16-game slate with seven contests to be played at home at Underhill Field. The 2026 campaign also marks the first under new Donna Fong Directors of Field Hockey Tara and Steve Danielson, who took over the program this past February.
 
The Golden Bears will face six teams from the 2025 NCAA Tournament, which includes national champion Northwestern and 2025 ACC champion North Carolina, which made a run to the semifinals of the tournament. Cal reached a No. 19 national ranking in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Poll last year and will face a total of seven teams that finished the 2025 season ranked in the coaches poll.
 
The Bears will begin the season with a three-game homestand against American (Aug. 28), Central Michigan (Aug. 30) and Columbia (Sept. 6).
 
Cal then heads out for a three-game road trip that features two teams ranked in the final 2025 coaches poll beginning with a weekend slate at Michigan (No. 20) on Sept. 11 and Michigan State on Sept. 13 before heading back to California to face Northwestern (No. 2) on Sep. 19. The game against the Wildcats will take place on the campus of UC Davis.
 
The Bears will then begin ACC conference play starting with a two-game homestand against Louisville (Sept. 25) and North Carolina (Sept. 27). Following that, Cal travels to the state of Virgina for a nonconference matchup at VCU (Oct. 2) before resuming conference play at Virginia (Oct. 4).
 
The Bears' final homestand of the season will pit Cal against Wake Forest on Oct. 9 and Duke on Oct. 11. Cal finishes off the 2026 season on the road with matches at UC Davis (Oct. 18), Boston College (Oct. 23) and Syracuse (Oct. 26) before the season finale in the 126th all-time meeting with Bay Area rival Stanford on Oct. 29.
 
Cal will return 16 members from the 2025 team, including leading scorer and NFHCA All-American Liz Klompmaker. The 2026 roster will also welcome five newcomers – four freshmen and a transfer.


2026 Schedule (bold games at home at Underhill Field)
 

DAY	DATE	TIME (PST)	OPPONENT
Friday	Aug. 28	6 p.m.	American
Sunday	Aug. 30	1 p.m.	Central Michigan
Sunday	Sep. 6	1 p.m.	Columbia
Friday	Sept. 11	5 p.m.	Michigan
Sunday	Sept. 13	TBD	Michigan State
Saturday	Sept. 19	2 p.m.	Northwestern (at UC Davis)
Friday	Sept. 25	6 p.m.	Louisville
Sunday	Sept. 27	1 p.m.	North Carolina
Friday	Oct. 2	3 p.m.	VCU
Sunday	Oct. 4	12 p.m.	Virginia
Friday	Oct. 9	6 p.m.	Wake Forest
Sunday	Oct. 11	12 p.m.	Duke
Sunday	Oct. 18	1 p.m.	UC Davis
Friday	Oct. 23	4 p.m.	Boston College
Sunday	Oct. 26	Noon	Syracuse
Thursday	Oct. 29	6 p.m.	Stanford
Tues – Friday	Nov. 3 – 6	TBD	ACC Championship

 
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