The Bears get a nice shot in the arm with the return of Kitty Lynn Joustra and Ellie Protopapas...75 goals from 2019 (& Protopapas was the #2 lefty option with Emma Wright scoring 67 goals in that season).

They return nearly everyone from last year with the most impactful loss being 2m Hannah DeRose (#3 scorer last year), but Kitty Lynn should cover and raise at 2m. Grace Raisin having another year of development under her belt and Cal likely has the best 1-2 combination at set.

The team's success will likely hinge on converting the outside shots with the defense collapsing on 2m and staying consistent on defense. There should be some speed with Kitty Lynn's return and a couple of speedy freshmen.

Go Bears!

Do you know what happened to a couple of promising players that are no longer listed on the roster? Freshman attacker Sophie Leggett from Santa Barbara started out fast with 10 goals in 5 games and then got injured last season. Where did she go? Also, soph Carla Traplin from Australia showed promise at times but is no longer back this year.

Another question: will senior Emma Wright from Canada be able to return next season after sitting out two seasons for the Olympics? I imagine that stars on other teams are probably doing the same thing, correct?
GO BEARS!

Not sure about Traplin, but Leggett transferred to Indiana (to play for Cal alum Taylor Dodson)...

iirc, Wright also deferred entering Cal ahead of the 2016 Olympics. If she comes back they would definitely have the strongest lefties (with Protopapas) and 2m (Joustra and Raisin) 2 deep!

Forgot to mention Swadling from Australia as well who had a good showing last year.

I watched most of the contest. Cal was actually trailing when I was able to finally get the direct feed. I must be a good luck charm because the Bear's defense held Fresno State at 4 goals for approximately one quarter plus. I was most impressed with the intensity of Cal's defense and Ball's play in goal.
The FOSH - California vs. Fresno State Live Stats
Six new freshmen got my attention. #20 Dempsey should have scored more than the 2 goals. #24 Musick hit a nice outside shot. DeMattia got one playing center (low post) Whitney, Reynoso & Christl looked promising, too.
Soph Salvino registered three goals while junior Gilmore (#7) got lots of activity at center and tallied twice. The players that I expected to play there (low post) were not in there much.

The returning scorers from past seasons scored early and departed (I think): Mulder (1), Sonne (1), Protopapas (1), Raisin (1) & Turner failed to score. Three foreign players DNP: Joustra, Swadling & Parker-Allen. Are they with the team this season?



The Bears(16-7) and the Bruins(19-10) defeated the hometown Bulldogs by 9 goals each. Cal will travel to Fresno next Saturday at 2pm for a rematch. Please feel free to correct any mistakes from my observations. GO BEARS!

S71...my info is Joustra is with the team. She may have been held out while recovering from an injury while with the Dutch national team training. Swadling and Parker-Allen are redshirting, I believe. The roster convention all teams use is to designate redshirts by listing them on the roster with no number. That's what Cal has done with Swadling, Parker-Allen and Wright.

Polodad-your answer makes sense, but IMO, Cal could have used Swadling & Parker-Allen this season. The latter pair are not on their respective national teams are they?
https://calbears.com/news/2021/2/14/womens-water-polo-no-7-bears-rout-no-11-fresno-state-to-open-season.aspx
I was correct in my comment about Maryn Dempsey (#20). It turned out that the official score sheet had her 3-6 for a hat trick...GO BEARS!

I think Swadling was a member of Aussie Youth squad (under 18). I don't know if she has been selected to Aussie Jr National team (under 21).

I don't know Parker-Allen's status with New Zealamd's national program.

The women travelled back to Fresno today for a rematch with Fresno State. This was a much tougher match, with the Bears needing a tying goal with 5 seconds remaining to force OT. The Bears won in OT 11-9. Immediately following, the Bears defeated Fresno Pacific 22-3.

Much easier time of it yesterday...strong first quarter, leading 6-1, then 11-3 at half and extended to 17-5 late in the third quarter.

No clue how good SJSU is as this was their first game of the season and the Bears picked up 17 exclusions and a penalty, but a dominating win it was.

Next up is UCSB who just had their first games of the season against SDSU who were playing their 8th and 9th (?) game of the season...again tough to gauge how good they are with SDSU having been walloped by ASU earlier in the month.

Great sign to have 14 players hit the stat sheet with shots, goals, assists or steals.