Bears Close Home Slate Against Louisville, Wake Forest

Bears close home slate against Louisville, Wake Forest

FH10/23/2024 1:19 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Will Honor 9 Seniors On Sunday

FRIDAY, OCT. 25CAL (6-7, 0-5 ACC) VS. LOUISVILLE (5-10, 1-6 ACC) | 4 P.M. PT | UNDERHILL FIELD | BERKELEY, CALIF.LIVE STREAM: ACCNX/ESPN+ | LIVE STATS: CLICK HERE SUNDAY, OCT. 27CAL VS. WAKE FOREST (6-8, 1-4 ACC) | 12 P.M. PT | UNDERHILL FIELD | BERKELEY, CALIF.LIVE STREAM: ACCNX/ESPN+ | LIVE STATS: CLICK HERE The California field hockey team will host two ACC opponents to close out the 2024 home slate – Louisville on Friday and Wake Forest on Sunday. Sunday's matchup against the Demon Deacons will serve as Senior Day for the Bears, who will honor nine seniors. Coverage for both games will be available via ACCNX and live stats. As a team, the Bears are tied for first in the nation in defensive saves (10), and graduate midfielder Canisha van Duyn is responsible for six of them, which ranks second in the country. SENIOR FEELSOn Sunday against Wake Forest, Cal will recognize three graduate transfers and six seniors for this year's Senior Day. These student-athletes include – Carmel van Dijk, Canisha van Duyn, Noemie Mekki, Cassidy Puleo, Gracie Jimenez, Sophie Everett, Monet Stuckey, Sydney Decher and Elana Eisenberg.  GOING FOR 300Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey Shellie Onstead is on the brink of a career milestone. Cal's next win would be the 300th of her career. ABOUT THE CARDINALSLouisville will enter Friday's matchup on a seven-game losing streak with an overall record of 5-10 (1-6 ACC). Six out of its last seven games have been against ranked opponents, including two overtime losses in that span. It will be the ninth all-time meeting between the two teams, as the Cardinals hold a 5-3 advantage in the series. It will be the first meeting in six years when Louisville pulled out a 2-1 victory in overtime on Sept. 9, 2018. ABOUT THE DEMON DEACONSWake Forest sits at 6-8 (1-4 ACC) on the season after claiming two overtime victories over its last three outings. The first came against Louisville (3-2) on Oct. 13., in a double overtime game, while the second came against James Madison (3-1) last Sunday. The Demon Deacons will face off against Stanford before Sunday's matchup. It will be the 12th meeting between Cal and Wake Forest, as the Deacs have never lost to the Bears. It will be the first meeting since Sept. 11, 2022, when Wake Forest took a 6-1 victory.

LAST TIME OUT Cal fell to then-No. 17 Iowa, 3-1, on Sunday at Grant Field in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes took the early advantage within the first three minutes after capitalizing on a penalty corner. Graduate student Canisha van Duyn earned her second goal of the season late in the first half to even the score at 1-1. Shortly afterward, Iowa used another penalty corner to reclaim the lead late in the half (2-1). In a tightly contested second half that saw two penalty corners, six saves and 13 shot attempts, Iowa drained a shot at the 49:30 mark to extend its lead en route to securing a 3-1 victory.  30 FOR ONSTEADShellie Onstead is in her 30th season as the Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey. Onstead has a career record of 299-239 and has guided the Bears to 12 conference championships. She is a six-time NorPac Coach of the Year and has led Cal to six NCAA Tournament appearances. Onstead served as an assistant coach for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and was inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982. Onstead played at Cal from 1980-82 and was the program's first All-America player.