DURHAM, N.C. – The California men's soccer team continued its late-season surge and success in the state of North Carolina on Sunday by upsetting second-ranked Duke 2-0 at Koskinen Stadium. The Golden Bears got two first-half goals – a Duke own goal and an Arik Duncan strike – and five saves from Marco Brougher in the victory.
 
Cal, which improved its record to 8-7-2, next plays seventh-ranked Clemson in the ACC semifinals Thursday at 5 p.m. PT in Cary, North Carolina.
 
At the 1:58 mark, Cal forward Nonso Adimabua earned a free kick when he was fouled in midfield trying to corral Brougher's long goal kick. Forward Alfredo Ortiz served the free kick into the Duke box, Cal defender Kevin Carmichael headed the ball across the face of the goal and Duke midfielder Kenan Hot – trying to clear the ball while defending Cal's Wyatt Meyer – headed the ball into his own net.
 
The Bears continued to attack and, at 16:37, midfielder Kieran Bracken Serra sent a perfect ball to the top of the six-yard box, and the onrushing Duncan volleyed the ball into the back of the net.
 
Cal took its 2-0 lead into the break.
 
In the second half, the Bears weathered a storm of Duke chances, as the Blue Devils outshot Cal 10-2 in the final 45 minutes and 19-5 for the game. Brougher made three of his saves in the second half.
 
Brougher and Meyer came up big in the 76th minute, when Duke forward Ulfur Bjornsson had a chance to score on a breakaway. Meyer – the 2023 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year – recovered and bothered the Blue Devil enough to affect his shot, allowing Brougher to make an easy save. At 81:34, Brougher saved a deflected shot by Sol Arbib in what was Duke's last shot on goal in the game.
 
Cal has now won three straight after losing two of its previous three games. The game before that stretch was a 1-0 upset victory at then-No. 1 Pitt. The common denominator during the win streak and in the victory over the Panthers is that all four results came against nationally ranked ACC opponents – No. 1 Pitt, No. 2 Duke, No. 14 North Carolina and No. 22 Stanford – on the road, where Cal is 5-4-0. The Bears are 3-3-2 at home.
 
"These just guys step across the line and become a different beast on the road," Cal head coach Leonard Griffin said. "We talked about being on the front foot from the start, and we were able to get after them early. Goals change games. They changed this one, and we were also able to keep ball out of the back of our net. Credit to our guys up front, but just as much credit goes to Kevin Carmichael, Marco Brougher, Wyatt Meyer, Santiago Hopkins and all the guys defending. And we had a great team effort from the bench.
 
"This is the team that we knew we could be. We wish we could take some of those early games back but can only control what's in front of us. The players have just bought in and believe we can play with anyone."
 
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