BERKELEY – California found its footing in a second-half offensive surge in a tough season opening loss a week ago.
 
Despite the unfortunate outcome – a 1-0 loss – the 11-shot offensive attack against West Virginia in the final 45 minutes – and also keeping the Mountaineers without a shot in that timeframe – has kept the Golden Bears energized as they head into their first two-game weekend.
 
Friday, Cal welcomes Northeastern to Berkeley for the first time since 2015 in a 4:30 p.m. (PT) kickoff before hosting 23rd-ranked Creighton on Sunday at 1 p.m. (PT) in the Bears' first contest against a ranked opponent this season.
 
Sunday will be the first of 11 Cal games broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network in 2017 with Troy Clardy on play-by-play and Chris Sullivan providing game analysis.
 
In the last outing between the Bears and Huskies in 2015, Cal blanked its east coast opponents 3-0, while the Bears fell to the Blue Jays 2-0 in their last contest in 2008 – both matches in Berkeley.
 
"We're facing two great teams this weekend and will have to be at our best," said head coach Kevin Grimes. "I think we've gotten through the first game jitters that happened in the first half last week and really showed how competitive we could be in the second half with the number of shots we took.
 
"I think that energy has carried us through the week and we're excited to get back on the pitch against programs we haven't faced in a while."
 
For more information on Cal men's soccer follow the team @CalMSoc on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
 
Scouting Northeastern
The Huskies return to the pitch after earning a 6-11-0 record a season ago, finishing eighth in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 3-5 league record. Northeastern kicked off 2017 with an overtime loss to New Hampshire, before heading west to face the Bears followed by the top-ranked Stanford Cardinal on Sunday. Despite returning 16 members, the Huskies are a young team with 11 freshmen listed on the roster. However, in the pool of returnees are key individuals including senior defender Ackim Mpofu, who was an All-CAA Third Team member last season after scoring a pair of goals and an assist. Goalkeeper Jonathan Thuresson, also a senior, started 14 games in 2016, recording 54 saves and five shutouts. It'll be the second meeting for the Bears under the Grimes era, with his teams going 7-1 in the past three seasons against teams from the east coast.
 
Scouting Creighton
The Bluejays opened the season with a 1-1 showing this past weekend. Creighton fell to No. 17 Virginia Tech 2-0 before defeating Grand Canyon 1-0 in 2OT. Creighton returned eight starters, including 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy watch list forward Ricky Lopez-Espin, following a third consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Lopez-Espin, a 2016 NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team selection, owns 18 career goals, the most of any active Bluejay. Midfielders Noah Franke and Joel Rydstrand and defenders Mitch LaGro, Peter Prescott, and Lucas Stauffer also return after starting all 23 matches last season. Creighton leads the all-time series against California 2-0-0.
 

SEASON STORYLINES

2016 In Review
In 2016, the Bears compiled a 5-10-2 overall (1-8-1 in the Pac-12 Conference) to fall shy of an NCAA bid for the second consecutive season. Despite opening the season 4-2-1 and spending the early season in the top-25 of various national polls, the Bears faced a packed and potent Pac-12 schedule that tested the team.  Even with a pair of noteworthy wins over then 25th-ranked UCSB and league-opponent and then 24th-ranked UCLA, the Bears missed out on the playoffs, finishing sixth in the conference. While Cal took eventual national champion Stanford to the wire in both matchups, the Blue and Gold fell short in critical closely-contested games.
 
JCG "Just Call'em Good"
Redshirt senior Jose Carrera-Garcia or "JCG" as he's referred to on the pitch, enters his fifth and final year with the Golden Bears. Elected as team co-captain, the preseason All-Pac-12 honoree's leadership has been best demonstrated in his consistent performance. JCG returns after leading the team with five assists and is the top scorer remaining from last year's lot after Christian Thierjung, who led the team with nine goals, graduated. Additionally, after amassing six goals in 2016 JCG was named to the All-Pac-12 first team. It was his second all-league honor after picking up second team recognition the season before. Known for his fancy footwork and aggressive attacking, the Ontario, Calif., native, knocked in a season-high brace against Oregon State in a double-overtime draw last season in one of the team's many closely-contested competitions.
 
Fab Five
What do you get when you combine seniors Jose Carrera-Garcia, Paul Salcedo-Borrego, Josh Morton, Ugo Rebechinni and Aravind Sivakumar? Nearly half of your returning starters that combined for close to 6,000 playing minutes last season. And that is fabulous news for the Golden Bears who lost impact players in Nick Lima, Christian Thierjung and Trevor Haberkorn to graduation a season ago. The group accounted for a third of the team's goals (8) and 15 of Cal's 25 total assists in 2016. Carrera-Garcia and Salcedo-Borrego were a forceful presence in the front and tabbed All-Pac-12 honors, each for the second time, to close out closely-contested league play. Carrera-Garcia was also recently named to the 2017 preseason all-conference team. What makes this group most potent, however, is their desire to conclude their collegiate careers with a return to the post season. The Bears have not seen NCAA tournament play since 2014, when the five returnees were sophomores, a fact that has not been lost on the group. The Bears upset a pair of top 25 teams (then 25th-ranked UCSB and 24th-ranked UCLA), last year but Cal fell on the wrong side of hard-fought decisions. The highlights and disappointments have sparked the senior leaders as they return to the pitch one final time in the Blue and Gold.
 
Six Newcomers
Cal welcomes six in-state newbies to the pitch this season and though young, the group is expected to have an immediate impact. In the midfield, Lucas Churchill (Sacramento, Calif.) and Francisco Perez (Santa Clarita, Calif.), who add depth with duo Alonzo Del Mundo (Richmond, Calif.) and Tommy Williamson (Villa Park, Calif.) listed as forwards. Defender Christopher Grey (San Jose, Calif.) joins the Bears and brings international experience as a member of the U.S. U-18 Men's National Team and the Jamaica U-20 Men's National Team. In the goal, Chris Gustini (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) adds some fresh legs and has two returnees to show him the way.
 
 
Soccer Scholars
While many people use the summers to relax and get away from everyday stresses, a pair of Cal men's soccer members kicked things up a notch, academically-speaking, with prestigious summer internships. Senior starter Aravind Sivakumar spent his vacation days interning at the Bay-Area based Twitter headquarters. The computer science major worked on the social media giants Ads Targeting team for 10 weeks that included machine learning and writing code. He also found time to take a selfie with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey that can be seen on his Instagram @aravinho. Across the bridge, junior Halil Beqaj participated as a research intern at UC San Francisco. Intrigued by injuries that plagued former Cal teammate Trevor Long, Beqaj focused on femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), a condition that affects the hip. With local professors and physicians to guide him, the molecular and cell biology major participated in radiology imaging, data analysis and was observed a few surgeries. In 2016, nine Bears received All-Academic honors from the Pac-12 highlighting the team's balance of classroom success and athletic competitiveness. Sivakumar, picked up his second first-team honor.
 
 
Grimes Among Country's Elite
Head coach Kevin Grimes begins his 18th 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 178-115-40 record in Berkeley over the course of 16 seasons and trails only Cal Athletics Hall of Famer Bob DiGrazia in total wins (202 from 1952-1980).
 
 
Go-Pro Bears!
With starting goalie Jonathan Klinsmann signing to Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club in Berlin, Germany in the late summer, Cal's active professional soccer player count moves to 17, one of the most of any Division I program in the country. Recent graduates Nick Lima and Christian Thierjung have also made their professional debuts in the past year with Lima signing a homegrown contract with the San Jose Earthquakes and TJ, originally drafted 50th overall in the MLS SuperDraft to the Quakes, finding a home with the Tulsa Roughnecks FC. They join the following former Bears in the professional ranks: Stefano Bonomo (New York Red Bulls II, USL), David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes, MLS), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United, MLS), Servando Carrasco (Orlando City SC, MLS), Seth Casiple (Reno 1868 FC, USL), Chris Cortez (Phoneix Rising FC, USL), Christian Dean (Vancouver Whitecaps FC, MLS), Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC, MLS), Andrew Jacobson (Vancouver Whitecaps FC, MLS), Hector Jimenez (Columbus Crew, MLS), Eric Kronberg (Montreal Impact, MLS), Alex Mangels (San Francisco Deltas, NASL), Josh Saunders (Orlando City SC, MLS) and Andrew Wiedeman (FC Cincinnati, USL). Six of the 17 pro-Bears were goalies under longtime Cal goalkeeper coach Henry Foulk, who is entering his 18th season with the program as well.