Oct. 4, 2012

BERKELEY - After losing two tough games to Stanford and UC Davis, the Golden Bears take to the road once more to play the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions and Robert Morris Colonials. Both games will take place in State College, Pa. California has never played Robert Morris, and has never beaten Penn State. In the last meeting against the Nittany Lions, the Bears lost 3-1 at home in 2003.

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Bears Open NorPac Play
Last week, the Bears lost two close games to NorPac rivals Stanford and UC Davis. On Friday, the Bears lost a heartbreaker when they were tied 1-1 with the Cardinal until Stanford was able to push the ball across the goal line with just 13 seconds left to play in regulation. Jordan O'Reilly scored her fourth goal of the season in the loss. On Sunday, the Bears traveled to Davis and after facing a 2-0 deficit at the end of the first half, the Golden Bears could not battle back and fell, 3-1. Caroline Struijk scored her third goal of the season in the defeat to avoid the shutout.

In the Cage
Goalies Joelle van Hoorn and Courtney Hendrickson have allowed just 14 goals this season in nine games, compiling a GAA of 1.45 and a save percentage of .736. Van Hoorn's GAA of 1.17 and save percentage of .760 are first in the NorPac. Nationally, the GAA is good for fifth and her save percentage ranks 15th. The team GAA leads the league.

Kruggel Dominating
Lara Kruggel leads the Bears on the season with eight goals through nine games. The eight goals are good for second place in the NorPac. Last years NorPac Rookie of the Year also leads the NorPac with .89 goals per game, 1.89 points per game, and is third in the league with 17 total points. Kruggel is fourth in the league with 44 shots. Kruggel and the Bears are third in the league in scoring margin at +.83.

Sharing the Load
The Golden Bears have had nine different goal scorers through just nine games. Though Kruggel leads the way, junior forward Jordan O'Reilly has tallied four goals and sophomore midielder Caroline Struijk has scored three to add to the Golden Bear scoring.