California Golden Bears Athletics
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#1 Northwestern
No. 18 Cal Faces Back-to-Back NCAA Champ, No. 1 Northwestern
9/17/2026 10:00 AM | Field Hockey
Bears Head to UC Davis to Take on the Wildcats
The No. 18 California field hockey team returns to California this week for a neutral-site matchup against the defending back-to-back national champion and No. 1-ranked Northwestern. The Golden Bears and Wildcats will face off at the Aggie Field Hockey Facility at 1 p.m. PT on Saturday at UC Davis.
Cal and Northwestern will meet for the first time since 2021, when the Bears fell 5-1 to the then-No. 4 Wildcats at home. Northwestern leads the all-time series 12-3-1, while the teams are tied 2-2-1 in games played at Underhill Field.
Following Saturday's matchup, Cal returns to Berkeley to host ACC opponents No. 16 Louisville and No. 11 North Carolina to open conference play.
Last Time Out
The Bears swept their Big Ten competition on the road last weekend, marking their first 5-0 start since 2011. Cal shut out then-No. 8 Michigan 1-0 last Friday before defeating Michigan State 3-2 on Sunday.
Cal's win over Michigan marked the program's highest-ranked road victory since 2015. The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with the teams playing to a scoreless draw through two quarters before Cal broke through in the third. With just over five minutes remaining in the quarter, the Bears earned back-to-back penalty corners, with freshman defender Flore Uges converting the second opportunity for the game-winning goal. It marked her first career goal as a Golden Bear.
Cal's strong defensive effort secured the shutout, holding Michigan without a shot in the third quarter and limiting the Wolverines to one penalty corner throughout the game.
The Golden Bears overcame a one-goal deficit against Michigan State, scoring twice in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. Agustina Daud sparked Cal's comeback, lifting the ball over the goalkeeper for a top-shelf goal to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter. Josefina Moyano then gave the Bears a 2-1 lead with a reverse shot into the top-left corner. The Spartans quickly responded to tie the game at 2-2, but Liz Klompmaker found the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
The goal marked Klompmaker's 37th career goal, moving her into sole possession of fifth place in Cal's all-time record book after entering the game tied with former Bear Ilse Akkermans.
Cal's weekend sweep earned the Bears a spot in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll, in which they checked in at No. 18. Uges was also recognized for her performances on both sides of the ball, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week and NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week honors. She became the first Cal player in program history to earn a national player of the week honor since the NFHCA began presenting weekly awards in 2016.
About the Wildcats
The reigning back-to-back national champion Northwestern Wildcats are off to another strong start, entering Saturday's matchup undefeated at 6-0. Northwestern has remained atop the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll for three consecutive weeks.
The Wildcats are coming off a weekend sweep of two ranked opponents, defeating ACC foe then-No. 14 Louisville 3-1 on Friday before shutting out then-No. 16 Miami (Ohio) 2-0 on Sunday.
Northwestern is led by returning 2025 NFHCA All-Americans Olivia Bent-Cole, Juliana Boon, Ashley Sessa and Iise Tromp.
Tromp leads the Wildcats with eight points on four goals this season, while Sessa has seven points on two goals and three assists. Bent-Cole has tallied five points on one goal and three assists. Boon has played every minute in goal this season, allowing four goals across six games.
2025 Recap
The California field hockey team finished the 2025 season with an overall 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 led the team in points (34), goals (16) and game-winning goals (4). Klompmaker scored in 11 of 16 games played 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 2010-21, while 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 combined 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, while Van Wiechen was a consistent presence in the cage for Boston College last season, only allowing 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.
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