BERKELEY, Calif. - The California Golden Bears dropped a pair of matches last weekend against the San Diego State Aztecs (1-0 on 10/16) and UCLA Bruins (6-0 on 10/19). The Bears return to Berkeley for the final time of the regular season for a pair of games beginning on Friday, Oct. 23 against San Diego State (6-5-2, 1-4-0 Pac-12) at 2 p.m. and wrapping up on Sunday, Oct. 25 against UCLA (7-6-0, 3-2-0 Pac-12) at Edwards Stadium at 3 p.m. Sunday will also be the final regular season match at Edwards Stadium for Cal's lone senior, goalkeeper Alex Mangels.
Both matches will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network and can be followed with live stats on CalBears.com. Scoring updates for the games will be provided on the @CalMensSoccer Twitter account and fans are encouraged to follow the Bears on social media @CalMensSoccer on both Twitter and Instagram, as well as on Facebook at Facebook.com/CalMensSoccer for the most up to date news and content.
#JCG
Redshirt sophomore Jose Carrera-Garcia has been a key cog in attack for the California Golden Bears in 2015. Carrera-Garcia has already surpassed his scoring output from a year ago, through 12 games (three goals and six assists). His six assists rank him tied for 20th nationally and third in the Pac-12 in that in that category and he is tied for 16th in the country in assists per game (0.50). Additionally he is tied for fourth in the Pac-12 in points (12), is tied for fifth in the Pac-12 in points per game (1.00), is third in assists per game.
Carrera-Garcia converted a 31st minute penalty kick in Cal's 2-1 loss to No. 3 Stanford in Berkeley on 10/4 for his third goal of the season.
#TJALLDAY
Junior forward Christian Thierjung leads the Golden Bears in goals with four and also has three assists, for a total of 11 points. He ranks tied for eighth in points in the conference, is also eighth in points per game (0.92), is tied for sixth in goals, and seventh in goals per game (0.33) and is tied for seventh in assists.
#SUPERSALCEDO
Sophomore forward Paul Salcedo, named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team ahead of the season, ranks third on the Bears in points with nine (three goals and three assists). He is now tied for seventh in assists.
WELL-BALANCED ATTACK
The Golden Bears have scored 18 goals through 12 games, and have seen them come from 10 different sources. Only junior forward Christian Thierjung (four) sophomore forward Paul Salcedo (three), redshirt sophomore midfielder Jose Carrera-Garcia (three) and freshman forward Samuel Ebstein (two) has multiple goals, while junior defender Nick Lima, redshirt sophomore forward Matt Chasman, sophomore midfielder Aravind Sivakumar, sophomore defender Joshua Morton, freshman forward Spencer Held and freshman midfielder Shinya Kadono have all found the back of the net for Cal in 2015.
LOOKING TO GET BACK ON TRACK
The Golden Bears have had their struggles recently and are aiming to get back on track this weekend. The Bears last tasted victory on Sept. 20, when they beat the San Francisco Dons 3-1 in Berkeley. Continuing to create chances will serve them well, as those have been there, but finishing them will be the key. Cal has not found the back of the net since a Samuel Ebstein goal in the 43rd minute against Oregon State on 10/9 in a 2-2 draw, spanning 357 minutes.
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
The California Golden Bears go by the moniker Cal, and it is incredibly appropriate, considering the team's roster is made up of 24 players from the Golden State. Only two of the 26 players are from outside of California, in junior defender Trevor Haberkorn (Keller, Texas) and sophomore midfielder/defender Ugo Rebecchini (Rome, Italy).
HALF A CENTURY
California Golden Bears junior forward Christian Thierjung played in his 50th career match last Friday against San Diego State. Thierjung has now appeared in 51 games for the Blue and Gold and has tallied 13 goals and five assists during his career to this point.
Junior defender Nick Lima also made his 50th career appearance for the Bears, though he did so against UCLA this past Monday. The Castro Valley, California, native has scored one goal and posted seven assists during his career thus far.
JUNQUA MAKES FIRST CAREER START
California freshman defender Sam Junqua made his first career start on Monday in Cal's loss at UCLA at left back.
YOUNG NUCLEUS
California has just one senior on its roster for the 2015 campaign; goalkeeper Alex Mangels. With only a total of five upperclassmen composing head coach Kevin Grimes' squad, that means a key portion of the roster is the sophomore class, which is headlined by key returners Jose Carrera-Garcia, Paul Salcedo, Joshua Morton and Matt Chasman, who each appeared in at least 14 games each in 2014. Additionally, eight new faces are on campus, joining the three redshirt freshman who are anxious to contribute. Though it is an underclassmen-laden roster, there are a lot of veterans in the sense that they have a lot of game-experience.
LEADERS ABOUND
Being that the Bears are a young side, that does not mean that there isn't a lot of leadership in the team. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Alex Mangels will take on that role, especially in regards to his position, which also sees two fresh faces in Jonathan Klinsmann and Noah Texter. Additionally, a quartet of juniors will be major components of that leadership group, especially along the back line (Trevor Haberkorn, Nick Lima and Mason Case). Factor in the stability in the coaching ranks, as Kevin Grimes enters his 16th season at the helm, as does goalkeeper coach Henry Foulk, and there is
a lot of experience for the Blue and Gold this season.
GRIMES AMONG COUNTRY'S ELITE
Head coach Kevin Grimes begins his 16th season with the Golden Bears and has cemented himself as one of the nation's best. The 2013 NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) All Far West Region Coach of the Year has compiled a record of 169-104-38 record in Berkeley over the course of his now 16 seasons and trails only Cal Athletics Hall of Famer Bob DiGrazia in total wins (202 from 1952-80)
BEARS IN THE PROS
Currently 18 former Bears are playing professionally, including 12 who are currenly on MLS rosters. Rookie Connor Hallisey (Sporting Kansas City), Stefano Bonomo (New York Red Bulls II) and Seth Casiple (Timbers2) were all part of the Golden Bears' 2014 squad that reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Christian Dean (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Servando Carrasco (Orlando City SC),.Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC), Andrew Jacobson (New York City FC), Hector Jimenez (Columbus Crew), Eric Kronberg (Montreal Impact), Josh Saunders (New York City FC), Tyson Wahl (Columbus Crew), Anthony Avalos (SK Vard Haugesund), Chris Cortez (Orange County Blues), A.J. Soares (Viking FK), Alec Sundly (Real Monarchs SLC) and Andrew Wiedeman (Ottawa Fury) are all currently on professional rosters.
