The California men's soccer team (2-3-0) is back home to host ACC foe SMU on Friday and fellow Bay Area program Dominican University in a nonconference match on Monday at Edwards Stadium.
 
Friday's match will be the Golden Bears' second conference clash of the season, after Cal's 2-1 setback in a tight battle in its inaugural ACC game at North Carolina State last Friday.
 
Here are the details for the next two games:
 
Vs. SMU (2-1-2, 0-1-0 ACC)
When: Friday, Sept. 13, 4 p.m. PT
Where: Edwards Stadium, Berkeley, Calif.
Watch: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Vs. Dominican (2-0-0)
When: Monday, Sept. 16, 3 p.m. PT
Where: Edwards Stadium, Berkeley, Calif.
Watch: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Both games are 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.
 
Admission
Here are the ticket prices for men's soccer home games at Edwards Stadium this season – Adult $10, Senior (65+) $7, Youth (24 months to 12th grade) $7 and Cal Student free with a valid student ID.
 
Adimabua Scores In Cal's ACC Debut
It was a historic Friday night last week for California, with the Bears playing their first ACC game in their first men's soccer meeting with NC State. Forward Nonso Adimabua added to a night of firsts, scoring his first goal of the season to make the score 1-1 late in the first half. But the Wolfpack scored in the 81st minute to edge the Golden Bears 2-1.
 
The Wolfpack scored early, taking a 1-0 lead through a Hakim Karamoko goal 42 seconds into the match.
 
But the deficit spurred on the Bears, who outshot NC State 5-1 over the next eight minutes. On the other end of the field, Cal goalkeeper Marco Brougher made four of six saves in the first half.
 
At 39:33, Adimabua, a fifth-year senior, collected the ball, turned and fired a 23-yard blast past goalkeeper Logan Erb to tie the match before halftime.
 
The Bears' best chances to score in the second half came at 58:54, when Kevin Carmichael's header was saved by Erb, and at 78:51, when Erb stopped a low Adimabua shot.
 
The backbreaker came at 80:30, when Henrique Santos scored after a goalmouth scramble to give NC State a 2-1 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
 
Scouting Cal

• Nonso Adimabua (1 goal, 1 assist) leads the Bears in points (3)
• Cal has four different goal scorers through five games – Adimabua against the Wolfpack, sophomore midfielder Justin Knighton, who netted the lone goal and winner against Cal State Northridge, freshman defender Beau Morrison, who scored in the season-opening 2-1 loss to Denver on Aug. 22, and sophomore defender Giancarlo Mota, who scored the game-winning goal in the 1-0 result over Sacramento State on Aug. 25
• Freshman forward Malcolm Zalayet leads Cal in assists (2) and is tied with Knighton, Morrison and Mota for third on the team in points (2 each)
• Junior goalie Marco Brougher, who's started all five games, has a 1.00 goals-against average, a 0.773 save percentage and two shutouts
• Senior defender Kevin Carmichael and senior midfielder/defender Wyatt Meyer – both All-Pac-12 First-Team selections last season and both selections of Nashville SC in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft – are co-captains in their final season at Cal
• 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 TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Best XI Team this fall
• Carmichael was chosen to the ACC Preseason Watch List
• Adimabua, a member of the All-Pac-12 Second-Team and the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Third Team last year, is back for his fifth season
• 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

Scouting SMU

• On Saturday in its first ACC game, SMU lost to then-No. 8 Pittsburgh 3-1 in Dallas, with midfielder Jaylinn Mitchell scoring the Mustangs' lone goal
• The Mustangs have also beaten Air Force 1-0 on Aug. 22, tied Oral Roberts 1-1 on Aug. 25, upset then-No. 6 Saint Louis 1-0 and tied then-No. 9 Denver 2-2 on Sept. 1
• Mitchell was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 3 after scoring the winning goal against Saint Louis and converting against Denver
• Forward Bailey Sparks, who scored the winner versus Air Force, leads SMU in points (7) and assists (3) and is tied for the team lead in goals (2) with Mitchell and forward Milton Lopez
• Chance Johnson has played every minute in goal for the Mustangs so far this season and compiled a 1.20 GAA, a 0.667 save percentage and two shutouts
• Kevin Hudson is in his 10th year as SMU's head coach

Scouting Dominican

• Dominican plays Metropolitan State of Denver on Thursday
• The Penguins beat Cal State East Bay 3-1 in their Sept. 6 season opener and shutout Cal Poly Humboldt 2-0 last Sunday
• Midfielder Lex Bernier leads Dominican in goals (2) and points (4)
• Defender Patrick Zamora Salazar scored the game-winning goal against Cal State East Bay, while forward/midfielder Chris Mendez-Lemus tallied the winner versus Cal Poly Humboldt
• Goalkeeper Alejandro Reyes has a 0.50 GAA, a 0.923 save percentage and one shutout in two starts
• David Frank is in his seventh season as Dominican's head coach

Next Time
Cal closes this current homestand against Virginia, another ACC opponent, on Sept. 21 at Edwards Stadium.
 
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