BERKELEY – In the program's first Atlantic Coast Conference matchup, the California men's soccer team (2-2-0) takes on North Carolina State on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. The game will mark the first competition of any Cal team to appear on the ACC Network as well as the first meeting between the two schools in men's soccer.
 
Cal is coming off of a split of a trip to Southern California, including a 1-0 victory over Cal State Northridge on Sunday, when Justin Knighton scored the game-winning goal on his birthday.
 
Here are the details for Friday's game:
 
at NC State (2-0-1)
When: Friday, Sept. 6, 5 p.m. PT
Where: Dail Soccer Field, Raleigh, North Carolina
Watch: ACC Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Knighton, Brougher Star In Win At CSUN
Justin Knighton scored his first career goal and goalkeeper Marco Brougher made clutch saves to lead Cal to a 1-0 win at CSUN on Sunday night. That gave the Bears a split of their recent trip, which started with a 1-0 setback at LMU last Thursday.
 
Against the Lions in Los Angeles, Cal had an 8-3 shot advantage in the second half, but the Bears couldn't match Josh Elash's 76th-minute goal in the loss.
 
In Northridge against the Matadors, Knighton – who turned 19 on Sunday – broke open a tight game with his goal in the 74th minute. Freshman Malcolm Zalayet and fifth-year senior Adrian Guzman combined to set up the sophomore midfielder's strike, with Knighton fighting off a defender to collect the ball with his back to goal at the top of the box. He turned and juked to make two defenders move right, switched the ball to his left foot as goalkeeper Merrick Cook crept closer to his far right post, and then Knighton blasted the ball inside the other post.
 
In the 90th minute, Brougher made his fourth save of the game on a diving effort to preserve the win.
 
Scouting Cal

• The Bears have three different goal scorers through four games – Justin Knighton, 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 the team lead in points (2 each)
• Junior goalie Marco Brougher, who's started all four games, has a 0.75 goals-against average and two shutouts
• Senior defender Kevin Carmichael and senior midfielder/defender Wyatt Meyer – both All-Pac-12 First-Team selections last season – 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
• Striker Nonso 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
• Adimabua notched a goal, three assists and five points last year, when he often paired with fellow 6-4 forward Arik Duncan (2 goals, 1 assist, 5 points)
• Adimabua was highlighted on CalBears.com in this Back in Camp feature
• Two other returning Bears who each recorded two goals, one assist and five points in 2023 are midfielders Adrian Guzman, another fifth-year senior, and Rohan McEligot, a junior
• All three Bears who played in goal last season return, including Brougher (0.69 goals-against average), Connor Lambe (1.06 GAA, 2 shutouts) and Zack Andoh (1.28 GAA, 1 shutout)
• Cal boasts a large class of newcomers, including transfers Gaku Nishimura (San Jose State), a midfielder, Thomas Grimes (Wilmington College), a goalkeeper, Alfredo Ortiz (Cerritos College), a defender, and Nikolas Laredo (Pomona-Pitzer), a midfielder
• The Bears' talented freshman class includes Zalayet, who scored a goal in the Aug. 11 preseason game against UC Davis and had an assist in the 2-0 preseason win at San Francisco, midfielder Kieran Bracken Serra and defender Beau Morrison, who (along with Zalayet) started Cal's first four regular-season games this season
• Before joining Cal men's soccer, junior forward Michael Luckhurst was a place-kicker for the Cal football team for two seasons (2022-23)
• Freshman Griffin Gustafson is the son of Cal men's soccer alumnus David Gustafson
• Cal was voted to finish 13th in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll
• 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 NC State

• The Wolfpack defeated High Point (3-2, Aug. 22) and Florida Gulf Coast (1-0, Aug. 25) at home before tying at James Madison (2-2, Aug. 31)
• Will Buete leads N.C. State in points (5) and is tied for the team high in goals (2) with Taig Healy
• Buete scored the game-winning goal against FGCU on a penalty kick in the 89th minute
• Vusumzi Plamana netted the winner against High Point in the 89th minute
• Goalkeeper Enzo Carvalho, who started the Pack's first and third games, has a 2.00 GAA
• Goalie Logan Erb, who started against FGCU, has a shutout and a 0.00 GAA
• Marc Hubbard is in his first season as the Wolfpack's head coach

Next Time
Cal returns to Berkeley for three matches – vs. SMU in the Bears' first ACC home game on Sept. 13, vs. Dominican College on Sept. 16 and vs. Virginia on Sept. 21 – at Edwards Stadium.
 
Stay Posted
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