BERKELEY – Freshman forward Malcolm Zalayet scored his first collegiate goal for the California men's soccer team at Edwards Stadium on Friday, but the Golden Bears wound up on the wrong end of a 2-1 result in in their first ACC home match.
 
Cal is now 2-4-0 (0-2-0 ACC). The Mustangs' record is 3-1-2 (1-1-0).
 
SMU was awarded a penalty kick at the 11:06 mark, and Bailey Sparks converted it to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.
 
In the 55th minute, Zalayet fired a long-range blast past goalkeeper Martin Dominguez to tie the match at 1-1, with Arik Duncan earning an assist.
 
SMU retook the lead for good in the 84th minute, when Kyran Chambron Pinho scored directly off of a free kick to make the score 2-1.
 
Cal forward Nonso Adimabua was shown a red card late in the game, and the Bears played the final one minute and 24 seconds with 10 men.
 
"We know that every game's going to be a battle and a fight like this, and you have to find a way to pull out wins, whether it's creating more or keeping the ball out of the back of the net," Cal head coach Leonard Griffin said. "It doesn't feel good to lose games by giving up two set-piece goals. We were pretty solid defensively for the most part, and we weren't giving up opportunities in the run of play. We've got to find a way to see out these games and not give up set-piece goals.
 
"On the flip side, we need to bounce back. We have a quick turnaround with a game on Monday, and we need to get a result and have that lift us and give us some momentum moving forward. I'm proud of Malcolm for getting his first college goal. It was a good goal that got us back in the game. At the end of the day, we've got to learn from this, move on and prepare for the next one."
 
Cal hosts Dominican University on Monday at 3 p.m. PT at Edwards Stadium.
 
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