BERKELEY – Nonso Adimabua scored his first goal as a Golden Bear and
Adrian Guzman posted a goal and an assist to lead the Cal men's soccer team to a 2-0 win over San Diego State in the teams' Pac-12 opener on Thursday at Edwards Stadium.
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Cal – which has won two straight including a 1-0 victory over California Baptist on Sept. 10 –
improved its record to 2-1-3 (1-0 in the Pac-12). SDSU fell to 2-4-1 (0-1 Pac-12).
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"It's fantastic," Cal head coach
Leonard Griffin said of Thursday's win. "It's exactly what you want heading into conference, starting on the right foot."
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In the 36th minute, Guzman sent a bending cross into the box, and Adimabua, rushing into the SDSU six-yard box, tapped the ball inside the far post to give Cal a 1-0 lead.
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"I'm super pumped for Nonso, who got an assist last game and got a goal this game," Griffin said. "Hopefully he'll continue to get sharper as the season wears on and puts more in the back of the net for us."
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Guzman scored his first goal of the season in the 43rd minute, eluding two Aztecs at the top of the box and then looping a shot into the upper left corner of the net to give Cal its 2-0 lead.
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"I tried dribbling in to create more offense for my teammates, and once I saw I could cut back, I just shot it, and it went in," Guzman said. "It was a great feeling to go up 2-0."
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Cal outshot SDSU, 11-9, with Cal goalkeeper
Collin Travasos making two saves and collecting his second straight shutout.
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"The defense has been rock-solid along with Collin as well, winning their battles and putting out fires," Griffin said. "Hopefully we can keep doing that and we can continue to ride this two-game winning momentum going into Sunday."
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Cal next battles UCLA in more Pac-12 action on Sunday, Sept. 18, at 4 p.m., in the second half of an Edwards Stadium doubleheader with Cal women's soccer, which hosts Penn at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast both games.
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