BERKELEY - Tommy Williamson converted a second-half penalty kick and the California men's soccer team held off Oregon State to win, 2-1, on Thursday at Edwards Stadium. Francisco Perez had scored in the second minute to give Cal the early lead, before the Beavers tied the match in the first half. In the 71st minute, Cal defender Simon Lekressner was fouled in the OSU box to set up the PK.

"Any time you play good teams, you can expect the games are going to go down to the wire, and you've got to be razor sharp on both sides of the ball," Cal head coach Kevin Grimes said. "We played a very good team today, and we were very sharp on both sides of the ball for most of the game. We just have to keep pushing for 90 minutes."

Cal improved its record to 5-2-1 (1-1-0 in the Pac-12) with the win, which was broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks. Oregon State's record is now 5-4-0 (2-1-0 Pac-12).
 
At 1:43 into the first half, Cal forward Jonathan Estrada stole the ball from an OSU player, forged down the flank and crossed to an onrushing Perez. The midfielder lashed the ball past goalkeeper Adrian Fernandez to score his first goal of the season and give the Bears a 1-0 lead.
 
Oregon State equalized at 26:59, when midfielder Joel Walker eluded the Cal defense to score and knot the game at 1-1.
 
At halftime, with the game still tied, Oregon State had outshot Cal, 11-5, and had a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks. But the Bears came out strong in the second half and in less than 15 minutes had a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks over OSU and only trailed 11-9 in shots.
 
With the game still in the balance, Lekressner earned the penalty kick at 70:15. Up stepped Williamson, who scored his team-high fourth goal of the season to give Cal the 2-1 lead it never relinquished. The junior forward now leads Cal in scoring with eight points from his four goals.
 
OSU took four shots the rest of the way, though only one – an 88th-minute effort by Gloire Amanda – elicited a save from Cal senior goalkeeper Drake Callender, who finished the game with five saves.

The Bears next host No. 7 Washington on Sunday at 3 p.m. in another conference game televised on the Pac-12 Networks.