The Cal men's soccer team begins its quest for a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth this week when it opens the 2018 season at home with matches against Detroit Mercy and Incarnate Word. Cal will play five of its first seven matches of the season at Goldman Field and eight of its first 11. The Bears are led by Herman Trophy candidate
. Cal also has a deep and talented recruiting class, and combined with last year's redshirts has 12 freshmen on the roster.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
With eight true freshmen and four redshirt freshmen on the roster, 12 of Cal's 24 student-athletes are first-year players this season. Head Coach
Kevin Grimes will be counting on a number of freshmen to contribute this season, with a handful of them figuuring to be in the starting lineup. Freshman defender
JJ Foe Nuphaus was ranked as the nation's 39th player last year by Top Drawer Soccer while fellow defender
Ian Lonergan was rated No. 61 and midfielder
Taylor Davila came in at No. 66. Midfielder
Christian Gomez played for El Salvador's U17 and U18 National Team.Â
MARK YOUR CALLENDERS
Junior
Drake Callender is appointment viewing for the Golden Bears, as the junior has emerged as one of the top goalkeepers in the country. Callender is one of 32 student-athletes on the preseason watch list for the 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy, given annually to the nation's top player. He was a United Soccer Coaches NCAA All-Far West Region First Team selection last season as well as an All-Pac-12 First Team pick. Callender led the conference last season in saves (78) and saves per game (4.33).Â
SHIN-DIG
It's a goal party every time
Shinya Kadono steps on the field, as the senior from Irvine is the leading returning goal-scorer in the Pac-12 along with Washington's Scott Menzies. Kadono finished fifth in the conference last season in goals per game at 0.39 while placing in a tie with Menzies for fourth with seven goals overall. Kadono also was ninth in the Pac-12 in points per game (0.78) while placing 10th in the conference in shots (35) and points (14). Kadono was an All-Pac-12 Second Team pick last season and named to the 2018 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team.
2017 IN REVIEW
The Bears got back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years in 2017, giving head coach
Kevin Grimes his 12th postseason appearance in 18 years. Cal finished in second place in the Pac-12 standings, its best placement since 2010. The Bears wound up the regular season ranked No. 17 in the country in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Goalkeeper
Drake Callender and midfielders
Jose Carrera-Garcia and
Shinya Kadono earned NCAA All-Far West Region honors while Callender and Carrera-Garcia were also named to the All-Pac-12 First Team. Kadono was named to the conference's second team while seniors
Paul Salcedo-Borrego,
Joshua Morton,
Ugo Rebecchini and junior
Sam Ebstein earned honorable mention nods. The Bears also excelled in the classroom, with senior Aravind Sivakuma earning Pac-12 Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors along with junior
Halil Beqaj. Cal had ten student-athletes earn Pac-12 All-Academic recognition, and had the top cumulative GPA of many men's program on campus.
ABOUT DETROIT MERCY
• JR Jake Reitzloff finished sixth in the Horizon League last season with five assists
• The Titans need to replace All-Region pick Tyler Moorman, who tied for the Horizon League lead wth 11 goals last year
• UDM went 7-8-4 last year
ABOUT INCARNATE WORD
• The Cardinals are playing under first-year interim head coach Chris Fidler
• UIW lost 69 percent of its scoring from last season
• Incarnate Word is playing its fifth season in the Western Athletic Conference
Â
