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Sept. 30, 1997

Confident Bears (4-4-1) Travel to Cal Poly SLO

THIS WEEK:
Fri. Oct. 3, Cal Poly SLO, San Luis Obispo, CA, 7:00 p.m.
NEXT WEEK:
Fri. Oct. 10, UCLA, Berkeley, CA - Witter Field, 4:00 p.m.
Sun. Oct. 12, USC, Berkeley, CA - Witter Field, 1:00 p.m.

ON TAP: After splitting a pair of neutral site games versus top-ranked North Carolina and No. 18 Massachusetts, the Bears travel to San Luis Obispo to take on the Mustangs of Cal Poly. The match is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 3, with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT: Friday's match versus Cal Poly will be the fourth meeting between the Bears and Mustangs with Cal holding a 2-1 series advantage. The two squads last faced-off a year ago in Berkeley with Cal blanking Cal Poly, 2-0. The Mustangs also played in Cal's Adidas/Lady Foot Locker Classic season kickoff tournament which was contested Aug. 30-31 in Livermore. Cal Poly took home first place honors although they did not play Cal. The Mustangs, winners of last year's inaugural Big West Conference Championship, enter the match with a 8-3 record so far this season which includes wins over Northwestern, Washington and San Diego.

Courtney Carroll

REWIND: Last week Cal traveled to Texas for a pair of neutral site matches against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 18 Massachusetts. Friday, the Bears met the defending national champions, UNC, in Houston. North Carolina sophomore Lorrie Fair netted the game's only goal 37 minutes into the match and the top-ranked Tar Heals were able to hold off the upset minded Bears, 1-0. Despite loosing the match, Cal gained a lot of confidence from the match that should benefit this young squad later in the season. In fact, the Bears just missed getting the equalizer with less than five minutes to play. The loss, Cal's second consecutive one-goal defeat by a top four club, dropped the Bears overall record to 3-4-1 on the season. Senior Courtney Carroll (Fremont) and sophomore Sarah Kaminsky (Long Beach) netted a goal apiece on Sunday against 18th-ranked Massachusetts to help Cal notch a 2-1 victory over the Minutewomen at Dallas. The win improved the Golden Bears to 4-4-1 on the season. Cal opened the scoring just one minute into the match when Carroll sent a bending shot into the upper left corner of the goal for her second score of the year. Kaminsky found the net for the first time this season and pushed the Bears lead to 2-0 28 minutes later when she shot in a loose ball from the right side of the goal. UMass would finally get on the board in the game's 34th-minute but it wouldn't be enough as neither squad was able to capitalize on second half scoring opportunities. The Bears outshot their opponent (20-14) for the sixth time this season, and had a 7-5 corner kick advantage.

ZABALA TOUGH IN FIRST COLLEGIATE STARTS: Cal freshman goalkeeper Maite Zabala (Boise, Idaho) did her best to keep the Bears in the match versus North Carolina. Zabala made save after save as the Tar Heels, who had been averaging nearly five goals a game, were held to a single goal for only the second time this season. In only her first collegiate start in goal, Zabala collected 11 saves and faced 26 shots in the match. On Sunday versus 18th-ranked UMass, Zabala made her second collegiate start and faced another 14 shots. She made two saves on the afternoon as Cal beat UMass 2-1.

BALAVAC SCORING IN BUNCHES: After not producing a point since netting two goals in Cal's Sept. 5 2-2 draw at San Diego, sophomore Amy Balavac (San Jose) registered two assists against UMass. For the season, Balavac now is second on the team is scoring with six points. Last year she ranked third on the team in scoring with 13 points on five goals and three assists.

Sarah Kaminsky

KAMINSKY KICKING IN: Sophomore midfielder Sarah Kaminsky (Long Beach) continued to be an offensive force in Sunday's victory over UMass. Not only did she score the game-winning goal, but she posted a team-high in shots with seven. Despite appearing in only five matches so far this season, she is tied for third on the team in shots taken with 12.

BEAR NOTES: The Cal offense continues to be balanced this season with eight Bears having tallied at least one goal apiece ... despite being outshot by No. 2 North Carolina, 26-2, on Friday, the Bears have still taken more shots than 6-of-9 foes, and in all games 125 compared to 106 ... more evidence that the Bears are pushing the attack: Cal has also taken more corner kicks than its opponents, 47 compared to 37.

HEAD COACH KEVIN BOYD: The 1997 season is head coach Kevin Boyd's first at the controls of the Cal women's soccer program. Named Cal's seventh head coach on May 20, Boyd spent last season as the Bears assistant coach. He helped guide the Bears to their best record of the '90s in terms of wins --13-3-2 overall (5-2 Pac-10, second place). He is aided by two former Golden Bears: assistant coach Katharin Roth (Cal '86) and goalkeeper coach Duncan Lyons (Cal '89), who played for the men's soccer program during the 1988 and '89 seasons.