BERKELEY – California women’s soccer clashes with rival Stanford in the regular season finale this Friday at 3 p.m. at Edwards Stadium. The game will be aired on the Pac-12 Network.
The Bears boast a 10-4-5 overall record and a 5-3-2 record in conference matchups as they enter the final week of the regular season. Cal currently holds a four-game unbeaten streak and has shutout its two most recent opponents.
Last week, the Bears hosted Colorado and Utah to kick-off the final three-game stretch of the season, all of which are taking place on Cal’s home turf.
The Bears dominated their matchup with Colorado, handing the Buffs a 4-0 final score. Noelle Bond-Flasza lit up the scoreboard first with a beautiful header that sent the ball right past the Buffaloes’ keeper into the netting. It was Bond-Flasza’s first goal of her collegiate career.
Cal scoring leader Keely Roy recorded a brace in the match, her third time doing so this season. Roy scored back-to-back goals in the 29th and 32nd minutes, both assisted by Ayo Oke. Karlie Lema scored the fourth and final goal of the match to lift the Bears to their largest margin of victory this season. The match was also the 8th shutout for the team, with Cal keepers Angelina Anderson and Teagan Wy sharing the clean sheet.
In the match versus Utah, Cal continued the streak to collect its 9th season shutout, the 26th credited to Anderson in her career. Cal dominated the opportunities and possession in the match, taking over five times the amount of shots and double the amount of corner kicks as the Utes. However, both teams were unable to put points on the board and they settled for a scoreless draw at the expiration of the 90 minutes.
The Cardinal visits Berkeley for both teams’ final matchup of the regular season this Friday. Last time out, the Bears fell to Stanford 1-3 in a road match on The Farm.
STANDOUT SEASON
Keely Roy earned Pac-12’s Offensive Player of the Week on 10/10 after her pair of game-deciding goals over the Washington schools lifted Cal to a three-game winning streak. She now has 11 goals scored this season, ranking her second in the conference, and she is 5-for-6 on penalty kick conversions this season. She was also named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week and to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week.
Roy started the season on fire, scoring a brace in Cal’s win over UC San Diego. It was the first time in nearly three years that a Bear has had a multi-goal game, with the last one coming on September 6, 2019 when Emma Westin scored twice against USD. Roy followed that with a long-range goal in Cal’s draw against USF as she hit a shot from 25 yards out that found the side netting in the 78th minute and secured the draw.
Roy scored her fourth goal as she tallied from the penalty spot against UCLA, and added her fifth of the season on a penalty kick against Arizona State on 9/29 She added goals six and seven in a home match vs. WSU on 10/6 and locked in her eighth in the match vs. Washington on 10/9 to secure Cal’s sweep over the Washington schools.
Roy also tallied a goal in Cal’s exhibition match against the Chinese National Team, which Cal tied 2-2 against the 16th-ranked team in FIFA’s rankings.
BACK-TO-BACK
Sydney Collins was named Pac-12 defender of the week for the second straight week on 9/19 after she helped the Cal defense to two more shutouts against UNLV and Penn. Collins and her teammates helped limit their opponents to only four shots on goal and four corner kicks across the two games in weeks 4 and 5. The Bears have shutout six opponents this season, including four consecutively, and have a season-record of 398:16 of consecutive game time without giving up a goal.
MANRIQUE LEADS HOT WEEK
Ari Manrique had her best week in a Cal shirt as the sophomore scored in games against UNLV and Penn to wrap up non-conference play. She also tallied an assist vs. Penn to score five points on the week, outscoring her point total from the 2021 season. Manrique’s play contributed to Cal scoring a team-best five goals over two games.
DEFENSIVE HONORS
Angelina Anderson and Sydney Collins were named Pac-12 Goalkeeper and Defender of the week on September 12. The duo helped the Bears complete the week without surrendering a goal. Cal kept shutouts against Cal State Fullerton and Santa Clara. Anderson made four saves, while Collins marshaled the defense, which only allowed four shots on goal across two games.
STIFLING DEFENSE
Cal has had one of the best defenses in the country so far this season. They’ve allowed only 40 shots on goal this season, just 3.2 shots on target per game. Cal has allowed more than one goal in only two games this year and has posted six shutouts on the season, including four in a row. The Bears have only given up 10 goals in 12 games.
A-PLUS ANGIE
Angelina Anderson is now fifth on Cal’s all-time saves list with 237 in her career. Anderson also has 26 career shutouts, plus three more combined shutouts and is second on the school’s all-time shutouts list after recording shutouts vs. Saint Mary’s, Cal State Fullerton, Santa Clara, Arizona, Oregon State and Colorado.
Anderson was named National Freshman of the Year in 2019 as well as Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and Freshman of the Year. She was the first player to win both Freshman of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year in the conference. She earned second-team All-Pac-12 in 2020-21 and third team honors in 2021 as she’s proven to be one of the top shot stoppers in the nation.
RETURNING PRODUCTION
The Bears bring back the majority of the team that played during the 2021 season. The squad finished the season with a three-win improvement from the previous season.
For the 2022 season, 30 players from last year’s team return and only five players that saw minutes last year depart. Cal returns 149 starts from last year’s team. Cal also brings back 14 of the 15 players that recorded points last year including 17 of the 18 goals and all 17 assists.
The Bears return student-athletes who have combined for 352 starts and 626 games played in their Cal careers.
U20 WORLD CUP STANDOUTS
Cal sophomore Ayo Oke and freshman Teagan Wy competed with Team USA at the U20 World Cup this August. The duo was selected for the team after playing with the national team at numerous age groups and impressing throughout the spring.
Oke played in two matches for the United States while Wy served as a backup goalkeeper.
BEARS MAKE BIG ADDITIONS
Cal only adds three players to the roster for the 2022 season, but they’re all expected to make big contributions. Cal’s lone freshman is goalkeeper Teagan Wy. Wy has been with USYNT at 11 different camps and tournaments and was rated as the 18th-best prospect in the class of 2022. She helped the USA to the 2018 CONCACAF Championship as the starting goalkeeper.
The Bears also add a familiar face in Kailee Gifford. Gifford spent four seasons at Cal, playing in 50 games and making 31 starts as a defender. She transferred to Pepperdine last year and started in all 10 games before getting hurt. She returns to Cal to use her final year of eligibility in 2022.
The Bears also add Mya Daily to the team in 2022 as a transfer from Long Beach State. Daily started at center back for the Beach, helping them lead the Big-West in goals against average and being named to the All-Big West freshman team.
NO. 1 RECRUITING CLASS MAKES GOOD
The Bears signed the top-ranked recruiting class in the country according to TopDrawerSoccer in 2021. The group of 12 players are in their second year in the program after some standout performances as freshmen.
Noelle Bond-Flasza, Cailin Bloom, Courtney Boone, Maya Griffin, Velize King, Kei Kitamura, Karlie Lema, Ari Manrique, Aasha McLyn, Ayo Oke, Aaliyah Schinaman, Alexis Wright and Jordyn Young make up the class.
Three of the Bears’ top four scorers in 2021 were freshman: Karlie Lema (6 goals, 12 points) led the team while Ari Manrique (1 goal, 4 points), Jordyn Young (1 goal, 3 points) and Ayo Oke (1 goal, 3 points) also had an immediate impact.
Noelle Bond-Flasza (16 games), Courtney Boone (8 starts, Pac-12 Defender of the Week), Maya Griffin, Alexis Wright (2 assists) and Velize King have all seen time.
Oke, Bond-Flasza and Wright impressed enough to be called up to their respective National Teams for the CONCACAF U20 Championship in 2022.
Of the 12 recruits, 11 were ranked in the Top-200, including No. 25 Oke, No. 28 Manrique, and No. 36 Lema. TopDrawerSoccer gave nine recruits a four-star rating, with two rated as three-star athletes. Seven athletes have national team experience.
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