Cal Women's Soccer: Bears Visit Santa Clara For NCAA Tournament Opener

Cal beat the Broncos in the regular season but has struggled against them in the NCAAs.

The Cal women’s soccer team is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019 and faces a Santa Clara team that won the national title in 2020 and made it to the championship game of the College Cup a year ago.

The teams, who are meeting for the seventh time in NCAA action, square off Saturday at 1 p.m. at Santa Clara’s Stevens Stadium.

The Bears (10-4-6) are just 1-5-1 in postseason play against the eight-seeded Broncos (10-6-3), including a 1-0 loss in the first round of the 2019 tournament. But Cal won the most recent regular-season matchup, prevailing 1-0 at Santa Clara on Sept. 11 on a goal by Anysa Gray in the 28th minute.

Both teams are strong defensively. Cal has allowed just 60 shots on goal all season — 3.0 per game — and has surrendered more than one goal in just two games. The Bears have six shutouts.

Santa Clara, which captured the West Coast Conference title with a 7-0-2 record, allowed just four goals in those nine games. The Broncos haven’t surrendered more than one a goal since a 2-0 loss at Pacific on Sept. 25, and have rung up eight shutouts.

The Broncos are one of the elite programs in the country, having won titles in 2001 and 2020 while advancing to the national semifinals 12 times in their 31 NCAA appearances. Coach Jerry Smith has won 533 games, third-most in women’s college soccer history.

Cal is playing in the NCAA tournament for the 27th time. The Bears, who finished fourth in the Pac-12, enter the postseason riding a seven-game unbeaten streak, including a 1-1 tie against No. 7 Stanford in their finale.

Saturday’s game will be aired on ESPN+.

The winner will advance to the second round with a likely matchup against Notre Dame, one of four No. 1 seeds in the field.

Cover photo by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo