California Golden Bears Athletics
California
VCU
No. 20 Cal Heads To Virginia For Weekend Road Trip
9/30/2026 12:00 PM | Field Hockey
Bears face VCU on Friday before taking on No. 11 Virginia on Sunday
The No. 20 California field hockey team (5-3, 0-2 ACC) heads to Virginia this weekend to face VCU (5-4, 2-0 A-10) in a nonconference game before taking on No. 11 Virginia (5-3, 1-2 ACC). The Golden Bears face the Rams in Richmond at noon Friday PT, followed by a Sunday matchup with the Cavaliers in Charlottesville at 9 a.m. PT.
Cal and VCU have met just once in program history. The teams' matchup took place in Virginia in 2007, when the Bears won 4-1.
Sunday will mark the seventh meeting between Cal and Virginia. The Bears are 2-4 in the all-time series, with the most recent matchup coming last season, when Virginia won 3-2 after a late fourth-quarter goal.
Following this weekend's matchups, the Bears will have their final homestand, welcoming ACC opponents No. 5 Wake Forest and No. 3 Duke. Cal faces the Demon Deacons on Oct. 9 before facing the Blue Devils on Oct. 11. The matchup between Duke and Cal also will be Senior Day.
Last Time Out
Cal fell 3-2 in overtime to then-No. 12 Louisville last Friday afternoon at Underhill Field despite outshooting the Cardinals 19-9. Jaiya Labana and Agustina Daud scored for the Bears, who held a 2-1 lead before Louisville equalized and eventually scored the overtime winner with three minutes remaining. Carine Van Wiechen made four saves for Cal.
On Sunday, Cal dropped a 4-0 decision to North Carolina. After a first-quarter goal by the Tar Heels, the Bears nearly evened the score midway through the second quarter after working their way into the North Carolina circle, but Maria Scocco's shot went wide. Cal continued to apply defensive pressure, limiting the Tar Heels to two shots in the quarter. Van Wiechen recorded saves on both attempts to keep the deficit at one heading into halftime.
North Carolina came out quickly in the second half and scored less than a minute into the third quarter. The Tar Heels sealed the 4-0 win with two goals off penalty corners in the fourth. Van Wiechen tied her season best with nine saves in the matchup.
Following the weekend, Cal remained in the latest Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll, released Tuesday, moving to No. 20. The Bears also rank No. 11 in the NCAA's Division I RPI.
About the Rams
VCU is coming off two wins last weekend, defeating Saint Louis 4-1 in an Atlantic 10 matchup before earning a 2-1 overtime win over Georgetown in a nonconference game. The Rams improved to 2-0 in Atlantic 10 play with the victory over the Billikens.
Ana Afonso leads VCU in points with six on three goals. Lina Behrmann follows with four points on four assists.
Emma Clements has played every game in goal for the Rams, recording 49 saves with a .710 save percentage.
About the Cavaliers
Virginia is coming off a 3-0 loss to fellow ACC opponent Syracuse, which was ranked No. 11. The Cavaliers are 1-2 in ACC play and dropped to No. 11 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll.
Caitlin Connell leads Virginia with eight points on three goals and two assists. Mia Abello also has three goals on the season for six points. Emma Watchilla (five assists) and Mary Adams (one goal, three assists) each have five points.
Nilou Lempers has appeared in the cage in all eight of the Cavaliers' games, registering 25 saves with a .676 save percentage.
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 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 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/).
