Field Hockey Closes Home Slate Against Columbia

The California field hockey team looks to close out a sweep of its home-opening slate when it hosts Columbia at Underhill Field on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.

The Golden Bears and Lions have met just once in program history. That matchup took place at Underhill Field on Sept. 1, 2006, with Cal earning a 1-0 victory.

Following Sunday's contest, the Bears will hit the road for a pair of non-conference matchups against No. 8 Michigan and Michigan State.

Last Time Out
The Bears opened their season 2-0 following wins over American and Central Michigan at Underhill Field to begin the 2026 campaign. Both games were tied at one point in the second half, but Cal pushed through with the game against the Eagles going into overtime before freshman Laura Becker hit the game-winning goal of an assist from Liz Klompmaker.

Klompmaker totaled three goals and three assists over the weekend including a pair of goals against the Chippewas for her 10th career multi-goal game.

ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week
For her efforts, Klompmaker was named the ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week. She now has 34 career goals which moved her into a tie for seventh place on Cal's career goals list with USA Field Hockey Hall of Famer Renee Chatas.

About Columbia
Columbia opens it season on the west coast and will be facing Cal after its season opener at UC Davis on Friday. The Lions are coming of a 7-8 season and featire four players named to the 2026 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Watchlist in Lizzie Adams, McKenzie Bloom, Margot Houle and Jacinta Etcheberry.

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, 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 the University of 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.

About The Columbia Lions

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