The regular season comes to a close for the California men's soccer team (5-7-2, 1-4-2 ACC) in the Big Clasico at No. 22 Stanford on Friday at 7 p.m. PT.
 
The game makes the former Pac-12 rivals' first match against each other as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
 
Here are more details for the Big Clasico:
 
At No. 22 Stanford (8-3-4, 3-1-3 ACC)
When: Friday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m. PT
Where: Cagan Stadium, Stanford, Calif.
Watch: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
The game is being broadcast on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) and ESPN+ via the ESPN App. Access to the ACC Network and ACCNX is determined by your pay TV provider (cable, satellite, telco or streaming service). Even if you do not have access to ACC Network, you can still access games via a subscription to ESPN+. Viewers with access to ACCNX can view the streaming channel on the same device (smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, connected streaming devices or espn.com/watch) where they view ACC Network. ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming channel that can also be viewed on any streaming device.
 
Last Year vs. Stanford
Last season – which was the teams' final year in the Pac-12 Conference – Cal tied Stanford 1-1 in Berkeley but lost to the Cardinal 2-1 in the season finale on the Farm.
 
Evan Davila scored what was arguably Cal's best goal of the season against 15th-ranked Stanford in the draw at Edwards Stadium. The midfielder received the ball just past the midfield stripe and dribbled through several Cardinal players before firing past goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly from 17 yards out. But in the 76th minute, a Stanford free kick led to the equalizer. Zach Bohane took the free kick and found Jackson Kiil deep in the box. Kiil headed the ball inside the near post to make the score 1-1.
 
In the regular-season finale, and Cal's last game of 2023, the Bears took a first-half lead over No. 22 Stanford thanks to midfielder/defender Wyatt Meyer's first goal since 2021. The scoring play began with a free kick about 30 yards from goal that Evan Davila lofted into the box. The ball wound up at the feet of the Cal co-captain, who slotted it past goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly in the 36th minute. But the Cardinal's Dylan Hooper and Mark Fisher scored in the second half, with Fisher netting the game-winner in the dying minutes, and the Bears fell 2-1.
 
Bears Fall In Home Finale
Cal enjoyed a good start to its game against Notre Dame on Sunday at Edwards Stadium, taking a 5-3 shots advantage through 23 minutes and forcing former Golden Bear Collin Travasos to make three early saves. The Golden Bears also outshot the Fighting Irish 13-6 for the game. While the Bears allowed just two shots on goal, Notre Dame scored on both, and Cal lost 2-0 in its regular-season home finale.
 
Before the game, Cal celebrated the careers of Nonso Adimabua, Kevin Carmichael, Arik Duncan, Adrian Guzman, Santiago Hopkins, Connor Lambe and Wyatt Meyer in its Senior Day ceremony. Three of those Bears combined to produce Cal's five early shots. Meyer took two shots in the opening minutes, including a seventh-minute effort that Travasos saved. Adimabua put a pair of shots on goal that were saved in the 14th and 19th minutes, while Duncan shot high in the 17th minute.
 
Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute when Matthew Roou slotted home a cross from KK Baffour.
 
Cal outshot the Irish 6-1 in the second half, but Notre Dame scored on that lone shot. In the 78th minute, Roou crossed to Nolan Spicer deep in the box, and Spicer finished at the far post to make the score 2-0.
 
The Bears had one last chance to get on the scoreboard, but Adimabua's 85th-minute shot was wide.
 
Adimabua, Brougher Named ACC Players of the Week
After leading Cal to its 1-0 upset of then-No. 1 Pitt and its first ACC victory Oct. 11, forward Nonso Adimabua was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week and goalkeeper Marco Brougher was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week. Brougher was also named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for his performance against the Panthers.
 
Those were the first ACC weekly honors for Cal in men's soccer.
 
The goal sequence began when the Panthers played the ball back to their goalkeeper, Cabral Carter, deep in their box. With Cal forward Arik Duncan pressuring him, Carter passed the ball to a Pitt field player. The Panther took a bad touch in the box to leave the ball in the path of the onrushing Adimabua, who slammed the ball into the net from 14 yards out.
 
Brougher made a career-best seven saves, including the stop of Luis Sahmkow's penalty kick. The Panthers' leading scorer had previously made two of two penalty kicks this season, but the Cal goalie made a diving save of the spot kick and two minutes later saved an Eben McIntyre shot in what was Pitt's last chance of the game to earn his third shutout of 2024.
 
Scouting Cal

• Marco Brougher, a junior goalkeeper who's started 13 of 14 games, is among the ACC leaders in several categories – he's tied for the lead in saves per game (3.14), second in shutouts combined per game (0.07), tied for second in total saves (44), tied for second in shutouts combined (1) and fifth in save percentage (0.710)
• As a team, Cal ranks second in the ACC in saves (53)
• In the all-time series with Stanford, Cal has a 24-39-12 record
• Senior forwards Nonso Adimabua and Arik Duncan are tied for the Cal lead in points (8) and goals (3)
• Freshman forward Malcolm Zalayet paces the Bears in assists (3)
• Adimabua, Zalayet, junior midfielder Allan Juarez, sophomore midfielder Justin Knighton and sophomore defender Giancarlo Mota have each scored one game-winning goal
• Adimabua, a member of the All-Pac-12 Second Team and the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Third Team last year, is playing in his fifth season, with his career including two previous years at Cal (2022, 2023) and two seasons at San Francisco (spring 2021, fall 2021)
• Cal head coach Leonard Griffin coached Adimabua in the spring of 2021 when both were at San Francisco
• The Saint Mary's game is the only match in which another Bear (Connor Lambe) besides Marco Brougher started in goal in 2024
• Cal's 5-0 rout of Dominican on Sept. 16 in Berkeley was the first game in which any Bear besides Brougher played in goal this season (Thomas Grimes and Ryan Savoie)
• Senior defender Kevin Carmichael and senior midfielder/defender Wyatt Meyer – both All-Pac-12 First-Team selections last season and draft picks by Nashville SC in the MLS SuperDraft last December – are co-captains in their final season at Cal
• Carmichael, who was chosen to the ACC Preseason Watch List, was profiled in Seizing The Opportunity, a Cal Sports Quarterly magazine feature
• Meyer – the 2023 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Second Team – was named to the United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch List for defenders and garnered a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI Team this fall
• Leonard Griffin – who won the NCAA championship as a UCLA player in 2002 – was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year last season and is in his third year as head coach of the Golden Bears
• A former professional player who was drafted No. 11 overall by the Chicago Fire in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, Griffin made MLS stops in Portland, Oregon, in Columbus, Ohio, and in Los Angeles with the Galaxy
• The Cal coaching staff includes alumnus and long-time assistant coach Henry Foulk, who has mentored numerous Bears who've played professionally including current pros Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC, MLS), Drake Callender (Inter Miami CF, MLS), David Bingham (Charlotte FC, MLS) and Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena FC, Italy Serie C)

Scouting Stanford

• The Cardinal hasn't won a game since Sept. 27 – since then, Stanford tied NC State 0-0 at home, tied SMU 2-2 on the road, lost at San Francisco 2-0, tied Pacific 1-1 at home and, in its last match, lost to No. 11 North Carolina 2-1 on Sunday at home
• Goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly has a 0.94 GAA in 15 starts and is tied for the ACC lead in shutouts (6) and in shutouts per game (0.40)
• Midfielder Zach Bohane leads Stanford in goals (5), points (13) and game-winning goal (3)
• Midfielder Fletcher Bank paces the Cardinal in assists (4)
• Jeremy Gunn is in his 13th season as Stanford's head coach

Next Time
Cal plays in the first round of the ACC Championship next Wednesday, Nov. 6, at an opponent to be announced.
 
Stay Posted
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