Cal is riding a two-game winning streak over nationally ranked ACC opponents on the road, with the Bears defeating then-No. 22 Stanford 1-0 in last Friday's regular-season finale and then stunning then-No. 14 North Carolina 2-1 in a come-from-behind victory Wednesday. The road win at UNC 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.
 
The Bears have a 3-2-0 road record against ACC opponents. They are 4-4-0 overall on the road and are 3-3-2 at home.
 
The winner of Sunday's game advances to Cary, North Carolina, for the Nov. 14 ACC Championship semifinals. The conference tournament final is slated for Nov. 17 in Cary.
 
Here are the details for Sunday's game:
 
At No. 2 Duke (11-2-4)
When: Sunday, Nov. 10, 3 p.m. PT
Where: Koskinen Stadium, Durham, N.C.
Watch: ACC Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Bears Rally To Beat No. 14 UNC In ACC First Round
Entering the ACC Championship, Cal was the only conference team out of 15 that hadn't been awarded a penalty kick in 2024. But that changed in Cal's first-round match at 14th-ranked North Carolina's Dorrance Field on Wednesday night.
 
Tied 1-1 – after first allowing a seventh-minute goal to the Tar Heels – the 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 it wouldn't relinquish. Zalayet, a freshman forward, was an attacking threat much of the night and netted the equalizer in the 64th minute.
 
Carmichael Named ACC Co-Defensive Player Of The Week
Senior defender Kevin Carmichael was named the ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week, after he scored the game-winning goal and marshalled Cal's defense in a 1-0 shutout of No. 22 Stanford in the Nov. 1 regular-season finale. The weekly ACC honor was the first of his career and the third for the Bears in their inaugural season in the conference. The Thousand Oaks product also claimed a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for his heroics on the Farm.
 
Adimabua, Brougher Named ACC Players of the Week
After leading Cal to a 1-0 upset of then-No. 1 Pitt and its first ACC victory Oct. 11, forward Nonso Adimabua – who scored the game-winning goal – was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week and goalkeeper Marco Brougher – who made a career-best seven saves at Pitt – 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 two ACC weekly honors for Cal in men's soccer and the first TDS Team of the Week nod for the Bears this season.
 
Scouting Cal

• Sunday's game will mark Cal's fourth in the state of North Carolina this season, including games at North Carolina State (Sept. 6) and North Carolina (Sept. 28 and Wednesday)
• Marco Brougher, a junior goalkeeper who's started 15 of 16 games, is among the ACC leaders in several categories – he's tied for second in saves (52), tied for third in saves per game (3.25), sixth in save percentage (0.732) and tied for seventh in shutouts (4)
• Brougher has also compiled a 1.29 goals-against average
• As a team, Cal ranks second in the ACC in saves (62)
• Senior forwards Nonso Adimabua and Arik Duncan along with freshman forward Malcolm Zalayet are tied for the Cal lead in points (10), while Adimabua and Duncan are tied for the lead in goals (4)
• Zalayet paces the Bears in assists (4)
• Adimabua (at Pitt), Zalayet (vs. Dominican), Alfredo Ortiz (at UNC), Kevin Carmichael (at Stanford), junior midfielder Allan Juarez (vs. Saint Mary's), sophomore midfielder Justin Knighton (at CSUN) and sophomore defender Giancarlo Mota (vs. Sacramento State) 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)
• 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
• Carmichael leads Cal in minutes played (1,378), with Brougher second (1,323)
• 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
• Meyer is the son of Cal women's soccer alumna and former Cal women's soccer assistant coach Jennifer Thomas
• Senior defender Santiago Hopkins is the son of Allen Hopkins Jr., a former soccer broadcaster who's now the Executive Director of Black Players for Change
• First-year forward Michael Luckhurst is a former placekicker for the Cal football team
• Luckhurst's father, Mick, is a member of the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame who competed in rugby and football for the Bears, before playing for several seasons for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL
• Adam Luckhurst, Michael's brother, is a forward for Duke
• 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 Duke

• Duke is on an 11-game unbeaten streak and has a 6-1-2 home record
• The last time the Blue Devils lost was Sept. 13, when North Carolina beat them 2-1 at Koskinen Stadium
• Duke leads the ACC in goals (57), scoring average (3.353) and average margin of victory (2.35)
• Forward Ulfur Bjornsson leads Duke in goals (13), points (29) and game-winning goals (3)
• In the ACC, Bjornsson ranks first in shots on goal (29) and shots on goal average (1.71); he ranks second in goals and points
• Adam Luckhurst ranks second in goals (11) and points (24) for Duke; he ranked third in goals and third in points in the ACC
• Midfielder Drew Kerr leads the ACC in assists (10)
• Goalkeeper Wessel Speel is tied for first in the ACC in shutouts (6), ranks second in GAA (0.926) and ranks third in save percentage (0.741)
• John Kerr is in his 16th season as head coach at Duke
• Kerr's sons, Drew and Cameron, play for the Blue Devils

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