BERKELEY – Evan Davila scored in the fifth minute and Arik Duncan and Rohan McEligot netted their first goals as Golden Bears to lead the California men's soccer team to a 3-0 victory – Cal's first of the season – over FDU in the home opener on Friday at Edwards Stadium.
 
"I'm proud of the group," Cal head coach Leonard Griffin said. "We wanted to build off of the good results of last weekend, and this week we stressed finding the back of the net a bit more. We're happy to get three goals but equally as happy we kept the ball out of the back of the net and got the shutout."
 
The Bears' record stands at 1-0-2 after the nonconference game. The Knights (2-1-0) suffered their first loss of the year.
 
Davila's early goal flipped the script on Cal's previous games, with the Bears allowing goals in the fourth minutes of eventual 1-1 ties at No. 10 UNC Greensboro and No. 18 Wake Forest. Against FDU, Duncan, deep in the box, passed to an unmarked Davila at the penalty spot, and the senior midfielder slotted the ball past goalkeeper Spencer King.
 
The Bears, who outshot the Knights, 6-1, in the first 45 minutes, took the 1-0 lead into the break.
 
In the 56th minute, Davila turned provider for Duncan, as the Cal veteran's corner kick found the forward at the far post. The 6-foot-4 Duncan rose above everyone to nod in his first goal since transferring to Berkeley from RPI, and Cal led, 2-0.
 
With less than 30 seconds remaining in the game, some nice passing between freshman Brendan Bell and sophomore Allan Juarez deep in the attacking third resulted in McEligot getting a shot from seven yards from goal. The sophomore blasted the ball into the net for his first career goal to cap the win.

The Bears outshot FDU, 13-7, and goalkeeper Connor Lambe made four saves to secure his first shutout and win.
 
Cal returns to Goldman Field on Monday, Labor Day, at 1 p.m. PT, when the Bears host Dartmouth.