Oct. 20, 1997
Women's Soccer Hosts Washington, Washington State
THIS WEEK:
- Friday 0ct. 24 Washington, Berkeley, CA - Witter Field 3:30 p.m.
- Sunday Oct. 26 Washington State, Berkeley, CA - Witter Field 12:00 noon
ON TAP:
After dropping three straight marches to open Pacific-10 Conference play, the California women's soccer team will try to rebound this weekend as they returns to Witter Field for the final time this season. On Friday, Oct. 24, Cal will take on Washington (6-8-0, 4-0 Pac-10) at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday, the Bears will play their home season finale when they face the Cougars of Washington State (7-6-0, 2-2 Pac-10) at 12:00 noon.
THE SERIES:
Friday's match versus Washington will be the seventh meeting between the Bears and Huskies in a series that dates to 1991. Cal proved to be the dominant side early in the series winning the first three matches between the two schools. However, the Huskies have had the upperhand of late, winning the last three straight, including last year in Seattle, 4-0.
The Cal/WSU match on Sunday will be the eighth meeting between the Bears and Cougars. Cal leads the series, 4-1-2, but was beaten by Wazzu for the first time in seven matches last season, 1-0, in Pullman.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:
Washington, which posted a 12-8 (5-2 Pac-10 t-2nd place) record last year and earned a berth in the NCAA playoffs, enters the match with a 6-8-0 overall record in 1997. The Huskies also come into the match on a roll having won four straight games to open Pac-10 play with a perfect 4-0 conference record. To date, Washington has been led by sophomore Jana Wilson who has registered a team-high 19 points this season on eight goals and three assists.
Washington State, on the other hand, which finished in sixth place in the conference last season with a 3-4 Pac-10 mark (8-7-2 overall), enters Sunday's match on a two-game slide at 7-6, 2-2 Pac-10. After winning their previous five straight matches, the Cougars dropped both home matches last weekend to Arizona, 1-0, and Arizona State, 3-1. Washington State is led by freshman Deka DeWitt who has recorded 15 points on the season (six goals, three assists).
REWIND:
The California women's soccer team dropped it's third consecut ive match Friday afternoon when they were defeated by Stanford, 3-1, in a Pac-10 Conference game played at Stanford. The loss dropped the Bears to 5-7-1 overall, 0-3 Pac-10. Cal actually got the scoring started when senior Courtney Carroll (Fremont), off a direct kick, scored her fourth goal of the season at the 18-minute mark to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. But Cal wasn't given much time to savor its advantage as Stanford came right back and tied the game just two minutes later. From that point on, it was all Cardinal as Stanford found the net just prior to the half and again midway through the second stanza to seal the 3-1 win. Cal has now dropped eight of their last nine matches to Stanford after winning the first five of the series. The victory improved Stanford to 5-7 overall, 1-2 Pac-10, on the season.
CARROLL CONTINUES HOT PLAY:
Senior forward Courtney Carroll (Fremont) scored her fourth goal of the season Friday in Cal's 3-1 loss to Stanford. The goal improved her point total to 11 on the season (four goals, three assists) which equaled her output for all of last year. The four goals is also a career-high in scoring for the senior. Carroll has now scored a goal in three of the Bears last five games, accounting for 50 percent of Cal's scoring in that span (3-of-6 goals).
BEAR NOTES:
The Cal offense continues to be balanced this season with eight Bears having tallied at least one goal ... By being outshot by Stanford, 15-4, in Friday's loss , Cal has now been outshot in consecutive games for the first time this season. The Bears were also outshot in Sunday's loss to USC, 21-13... despite their record, the Bears have still outshot their opponents in all games, 172 to 168 ... Cal has also taken more cornerkicks on the year that its opponents, 53 compared to 44 ... after recording a school-record 11 shutouts last season, the Bears have only produced two this year ...
Through 13 games, Cal has scored 17 goals, an average of 1.3 goals per game which is down almost a full goal from the 2.2 goals per game average the Bears had at this time last year when they scored 29 goals in 13 matches last year. Cal has scored more than one goal in a game only four times this season. Credit a much more difficult schedule and youth for the scoring differences.
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.
