Justine Willard / KLC Fotos
Avery Hoeft and the Golden Bears go to Notre Dame on Saturday.
Golden Bears And Fighting Irish Square Off Saturday At 10 A.M. PT
CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (6-7, 1-5 ACC) at NO. 13 NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (8-3, 3-3 ACC)
SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2026 • 10 AM PT/1 PM ET
ARLOTTA FAMILY LACROSSE STADIUM (NOTRE DAME, IN)
WATCH
— ACCNX/ESPN+ (Will Eck, Play-By-Play; Payton Dymek, Analyst)
CALIFORNIA-NOTRE DAME LACROSSE HISTORY
— Notre Dame holds a bonus of 11-0 all-time towards California, together with a 15-8 win in Berkeley the primary time the groups met with each members of the ACC final season on March 13.
— The earlier assembly got here in Notre Dame greater than 9 years earlier when the Fighting Irish gained 21-2 on Feb. 28, 2016.
— Four of the 11 all-time conferences have been at Notre Dame with the others Fighting Irish wins in 2005, ’07 and ’09.
— The closest sport between the groups was a 12-11 Notre Dame win the primary time the groups ever performed one another in Berkeley on Feb. 27, 2004.
HOMETOWN HEROES
— Cal has one participant who lists her hometown from the state of Indiana (Sophie Mock, Carmel), in addition to a pair of highschool teammates (Annette Ciupek and Ari Tavoso) from Hinsdale High School within the bordering state of Illinois.
SIX OR MORE WINS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT SEASON
— Cal’s victory over Xavier on Tuesday was its sixth of the 2026 season to offer the Bears not less than six wins in every of the final three seasons for the primary time since Cal gained not less than six video games in every of the primary 15 seasons of this system (1999-2013).
ONE, TWO, THREE MORE WINS
— One extra win this season will get Cal to seven wins for the primary because the 2019 group completed 7-12. It can even make it 4 consecutive campaigns beneath head coach Jennifer Wong that the Golden Bears will enhance upon their successful share.
— Two extra wins in 2026 would get Cal to eight victories for the primary time because the 2013 group went 9-7.
— Three extra victories and Cal would end at .500 or higher, additionally for the primary time since 2013.
LAST TIME OUT: CAL 11, AT XAVIER 10 (MARCH 24, 2026)
— Cal by no means trailed within the first three intervals however wanted to outlive a wild fourth to win 11-10 in a nonconference sport towards Xavier at Corcoran Field within the first-ever assembly between the groups.
— Cal scored the sport’s first three targets (Courtney Wong, Willow Cyr, Josie Lillquist) and heading in the direction of a decisive victory. Cal led by as many as three targets on six totally different events however couldn’t draw back from the Musketeers.
— Xavier took its first lead with 13:22 to go within the contest however Cal responded with three straight unassisted targets from Wong, Katie McMullen and Juliana Doran to place the Bears forward 11-9 with 3:12 remaining.
— Doran gained the following draw management and the Bears ran off almost all 90 seconds of the possession clock earlier than Doran additionally took a shot that was saved by Xavier’s Jada Brandon to offer the ball again to the Musketeers. Samantha Balara then earned a free place try when Cal’s Clara Page dedicated a foul with simply over a minute remaining and transformed with 0:59 to go to drag Xavier inside 11-10.
— Xavier gained the following draw management however dedicated an offsides foul and was assessed a inexperienced card to offer the ball again to Bears, however Cal turned it again over to the Musketeers for one remaining try by Balara that banged off the fitting submit.
— Cyr, Lillquist and Wong ended up with two targets every for the Bears, whereas Moes had a aim and a pair of assists for a team-high three factors.
WRAPPING UP THREE-GAME ROAD TRIP
— Cal’s contest Saturday at Notre Dame wraps up its season-long three-game highway journey that began final Saturday with a 12-5 loss at Louisville. The Bears have been on the highway all through the whole thing of their journey that’s Cal’s fourth roadie of the 2026 marketing campaign. Cal began the season with a two-game journey to San Diego State/USC (Feb. 6, 8), adopted by a single sport at Oregon (Feb. 19) and its first ACC journey to No. 23 Duke (Feb. 28) and No. 15 Syracuse (March 3). Cal additionally has a visit throughout the Bay for its regular-season finale at No. 2 Stanford on April 16.
TRIO OF WONG, MOES, HOEFT LEADING OFFENSE
— Courtney Wong has posted profession highs and is Cal’s chief in factors (40) and targets (24) by means of 13 video games. She additionally has a career-high-tying 16 assists and is second on the group, two behind Avery Hoeft’s team-high and career-high-tying 18. Emily Moes has 30 factors on 20 targets and a career-high 10 assists, whereas Hoeft has 26 factors on eight targets and 18 assists.
WONG MOVING UP ON CAL’S SINGLE-SEASON DRAW CONTROL RECORD
— Courtney Wong’s 59 draw controls have moved her inside 24 of Kennedy Goss’ all-time single-season college file of 83 set in 2023. If Wong stays on her present tempo of 4.54 draw controls per sport, she is going to finish the common season with 77 draw controls. Wong had a career-high 12 draw controls March 9 towards Stonehill.
PAGE LEADS ACC IN GROUND BALLS, SIXTH NATIONALLY; CAL 2ND, TIED FOR 4TH
— Clara Page is the ACC’s particular person chief and ranks sixth nationally with a career-high 37 floor balls, in addition to third within the convention in floor balls per sport (2.85). As a group, Cal is second within the ACC and fourth nationally with 208 floor balls.
MURPHY LEADS NATION’S FRESHMEN IN SAVES
— Lulu Murphy, who has began all 13 video games in aim for the Bears, leads all freshman goalkeepers with 91 saves whereas rating twelfth nationally general. Murphy is the primary freshman to function Cal’s major starter in aim since Jenny Wilkens in 2016. Lily Rathbun additionally noticed simply over half of the group’s motion in internet as a 2021 freshman.
RAND PICKS UP FIRST TWO WINS OF SEASON IN THE NET
— Chloe Rand noticed elevated motion between the pipes off the bench in back-to-back house video games towards No. 1 North Carolina and Marist on March 12 and 16. She relieved starter Lulu Murphy on the finish the primary interval towards the Tar Heels and picked up a career-high-tying 10 saves whereas permitting simply 9 targets throughout a forty five:00 efficiency that tied for the second-longest of her profession. She then earned her first win of the season and the third of her profession after relieving Murphy once more towards Marist with the Bears trailing 4-2 with 4:46 to go within the first interval, permitting solely 5 targets whereas making 5 saves throughout her 44:07 of motion in a sport the Bears gained 18-10. She didn’t play at Louisville earlier than selecting up her second win of the season at Xavier when she performed the ultimate 20:58 and restricted the Musketeers to 3 targets whereas making 5 saves. On the season, Rand sports activities an 8.44 targets towards common whereas enjoying in seven video games all off the bench and has recorded 27 saves whereas permitting 19 targets for a .587 save share.
SCHEDULE SHIFTS
. — Cal performed its first 5 video games of the 2026 season towards unranked opponents and posted a 3-2 file in these contests however has performed 4 of its final seven towards ranked groups and dropped all 4 (at No. 23 Duke, at No. 15 Syracuse, No. 10 Boston College, No. 1 North Carolina) with its lone victories over the stretch coming in house video games towards unranked Stonehill and Marist earlier than Tuesday’s win at Xavier. Cal additionally misplaced to an unranked group at Louisville (March 21). After enjoying three of its final 4 video games towards unranked groups, the Bears will go up towards ranked squads in three of their remaining 4 regular-season contests with Saturday’s sport at No. 13 Notre Dame adopted by a house contest towards No. 10 Clemson (April 3) and a highway sport within the regular-season finale at No. 2 Stanford (April 16). All seven at present ranked groups on Cal’s 2026 schedule performed within the 16-team NCAA Championship in 2025, with North Carolina successful the nationwide title and Boston College reaching the semifinals.
GOOD IN ONE-GOAL GAMES
— Cal has been good within the shut ones this 12 months with a 3-1 file in one-goal video games. Three of Cal’s first 5 video games in 2026 have been determined by a single aim with the Bears successful the primary two at San Diego State (13-12) and at house towards Florida State (10-9) earlier than falling 13-12 to UC Davis on Feb. 23. After seven straight contests that have been determined by not less than seven targets with the Bears going 2-5 in these sport, Cal performed its most up-to-date one-goal contest Tuesday at Xavier and gained 11-10.
NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS
— Cal has a 10-3 file in nonconference video games during the last two seasons since becoming a member of the ACC previous to the 2025 marketing campaign, posting a 6-1 mark in 2025 and a 5-2 file by means of its in 2026. The Bears wrapped up their 2026 nonconference sport schedule with Tuesday’s 11-10 win at Xavier.
