BERKELEY – Despite outshooting West Virginia 14-3, California men's soccer was unable to overcome an early deficit to fall 1-0 in its season opener at Goldman Field.
 
An aggressive second half highlighted a disappointing Friday, where the Golden Bears (0-1-0) pelted 11 shots, four of which were on goal, to no avail. The Bears also squelched the Mountaineers (1-0-0) offense in the latter 45 minutes, keeping their opponents from the east without a shot the entire half.
 
"A lot of us had the first game butterflies in the first half and so we came in a little slow," said redshirt senior Jose Carrera-Garcia. "We had a defensive error where they penetrated and scored and we couldn't come back.
 
"In the second half, we came out strong with 11 shots. We were a bit unfortunate, hitting the post twice and missing a couple of balls we should've finished. That's a part of the game though. Now we just have to get back to training and work on our finishes."
 
The Mountaineers, who the Bears faced for the first time in program history, moved ahead early in the 20' of play after Cal's starting goalkeeper Drake Callender approached an attacker to cut the angle, forcing the ball wide, but West Virginia's Jad Arslan was able to connect at the back post to complete the play.
 
The Bears return to action on Sept. 1 in a home match with Northeastern at 4:30 p.m. (PT).
 
For more information on Cal men's soccer follow the team @CalMSoc on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.