June 18, 2012

BERKELEY - The California women's soccer team will play a competitive 20-match 2012 schedule, with half of the contests being televised on the Pac-12 Networks, head coach Neil McGuire announced on Monday.

The 2012 slate features 10 home contests at Edwards Stadium/Goldman Field, with eight set to be televised by the conference's new networks. The demanding fall slate includes five teams - Oregon State, Santa Clara, Stanford, UCLA and Washington State - that earned a berth in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, including the defending NCAA champion Cardinal.

"We are really excited about this year's schedule," McGuire said. "We will be challenged in many ways, playing teams with vastly different styles and playing personalities. Our non-conference games will prepare us well for what will be a very difficult Pac-12 schedule. We bring back a large majority of last year's team, and they are very motivated to make our fans proud. We are very excited for the great exposure the new Pac-12 Networks will bring to our program with 10 of our 20 games on TV."

The Golden Bears will open the season in Stockton, Calif., against Pacific on Friday, Aug. 17.

Cal's 2012 home opener will feature a rematch of its NCAA Tournament first-round contest from last fall, when Santa Clara comes to Berkeley on Thursday, Aug. 23. The Golden Bears defeated the Broncos in penalty kicks, 4-3, after the teams tied, 1-1, in overtime in last year's postseason match.

The first home weekend of the season also includes Big 12 opponent Missouri at Edwards Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 26. The contest against the Tigers will be the first of 10 matches broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks.

After a road game at Cal Poly, Cal returns to Edwards Stadium to host Bay Area foe San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 2, in a noon contest to be aired on the Pac-12 Networks.

Trips to UC Davis and Loyola Marymount are sandwiched around a home match with Penn on Friday, Sept. 14 on the Pac-12 Networks. The Bears will round out their non-conference slate at Nevada.

California opens conference play against Arizona on Friday, Sept. 21, in the Bears' fourth Pac-12 Networks' broadcast of the season at Edwards Stadium. Cal will also host Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State and Stanford at Edwards Stadium in televised matches on the Pac-12 Networks this fall.

All but two of Cal's home matches (Santa Clara and Washington State) this fall will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

The Bears will travel to Colorado, Utah, Arizona State, UCLA and USC during league action. The Oct. 12 contest against the Sun Devils and the Oct. 26 match against the Bruins will air on the Pac-12 Networks.

Click here to view Cal's complete 2012 schedule.

The Golden Bears return 10 starters from a 2011 squad that completed the year 12-6-4 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. California also welcomes the addition of seven highly-touted newcomers to the roster as McGuire begins his sixth season at the helm of the Bears this fall.

The Pac-12 Networks will launch Aug. 15 with plans to broadcast 850 live events in the first year on the national network and the six regional networks. They have already signed agreements with Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox and Bright House Networks to carry their channels. The conference is negotiating with satellite companies as well as other distributors to carry the new Pac-12 Networks.

Fans can access the Pac-12 Networks' channel finder application on the upper right corner of the CalBears.com homepage by clicking here. The site also allows fans to reach out to their cable provider to request to add the networks to their lineup.