CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Entering the ACC Championship, the California men's soccer team was the only conference team – out of 15 – that wasn't awarded a penalty kick this season. But that changed in Cal's first-round match at 14th-ranked North Carolina's Dorrance Field on Wednesday night. Tied 1-1 – after trailing 1-0 early – the Golden Bears earned a penalty kick when Malcolm Zalayet was fouled in the box, and junior forward Alfredo Ortiz converted the chance to give the Bears a 2-1 lead over the Tar Heels it wouldn't relinquish.
 
Zalayet, a freshman forward, was an attacking threat much of the night and netted the equalizer earlier in the second half.
 
Cal – which improved its record to 7-7-2 – moves onto play at second-ranked and third-seeded Duke in the quarterfinal round Sunday at 3 p.m. PT, with the ACC Network broadcasting the match. The Blue Devils defeated 14th-seeded Virginia Tech 2-0 on Wednesday to advance.
 
North Carolina is now 9-4-4.
 
The win at UNC was Cal's second consecutive road win over a nationally ranked conference opponent, including the Bears' 1- 0 victory at then-No. 22 Stanford last Friday. The road win was also Cal's third of the year against a ranked ACC opponent, including a 1-0 upset of then-No. 1 Pitt on Oct. 11.
 
"You can copy and paste my last interview from Stanford," Cal head coach Leonard Griffin said. "I'm super excited and proud of our guys and their never-say-die mentality, even going down a goal on the road. They figured out how to get a result in a win-or-go-home moment. We're excited, but the job's not done. We'll keep fighting and be an extremely difficult opponent the rest of our season."
 
Cal fell behind 1-0 in the seventh minute when Luke Hille scored. The Bears had chances of their own in the first half, including a fifth-minute Ortiz free kick that goalkeeper Andrew Cordes saved and a 22nd-minute bicycle kick by Nonso Adimabua that went wide.
 
The Bears rebounded in a big way in the second half. At the 63:33 mark, Zalayet scored the tying goal – his third of the year – off a Santiago Hopkins assist.
 
At 77:57, Zalayet was fouled in the UNC box, and, after a video review, Cal was awarded the penalty kick.
 
Was Ortiz – who also forced a save out of Cordes with a superb free kick in the 39th minute – the designated PK taker?
 
"We didn't quite know who should take it, since we hadn't had a PK all year," Griffin laughed. "We felt comfortable with Alfredo's ability and ball striking. But we were thinking as a staff it could be Nonso taking the penalty kick, and Nonso felt Alfredo would do a good job with it, and he was right."
 
Ortiz scored past Cordes to record his third goal of the year and become the seventh Bear to post a game-winning goal this season.
 
UNC outshot Cal 3-0 the rest of the game, with Cal goalkeeper Marco Brougher making his fourth and final save on a Tate Lorenz shot with six seconds remaining to secure the win.
 
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