After eliminating Duke from the ACC Championship for the second consecutive season, the California men's soccer team returns home to host Pitt in the conference tournament's quarterfinal round on Sunday at Edwards Stadium. The match represents the first ACC Championship event that Cal – now in its second year in the conference – will host in any sport.
 
Sunday's game marks the two teams' first meeting since Cal upset then-No. 1 Pitt 1-0 on the road during the 2024 regular season. In that match, forward Nonso Adimabua scored the game-winning goal and goalkeeper Marco Brougher made seven saves.
 
ACC Championship – Quarterfinal Round
 
Cal (7-7-2) vs. Pitt (6-6-5)
When: Sunday, Nov. 9, 11 a.m. PT
Where: Edwards Stadium, Berkeley, CA
Watch: ACC Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
The ACC Network will air all four quarterfinals and both Nov. 13 semifinals, and ESPNU will broadcast the Nov. 16 final.
 
Cal Blanks Blue Devils
For the second straight season, Cal defeated Duke 2-0 in the ACC Championship at Koskinen Stadium, with this year's victory taking place in the conference tournament's first round on Wednesday. Alfredo Ortiz and Luka Lukic scored to power the Golden Bears to the victory and into the quarterfinals.
 
At 36:48, Cal midfielder Noe Morales was a few yards outside the top of the Duke penalty area when he passed the ball to his left. A Blue Devil player deflected the pass into open space in the corner of the box. Ortiz ran onto the ball and slotted it inside the near post to beat goalkeeper Eryk Dymora. The goal was the senior defender's third of the season, and it gave the Bears a 1-0 lead. The goal was the eventual game winner for Ortiz, who also scored the game-winning goal in the ACC first round last season in a 2-1 victory at No. 14 North Carolina.
 
In the 81st minute, Lukic was fouled in the Duke box to earn a penalty kick, which the forward converted to net his team-leading eighth goal of the season and secure Cal's victory.
 
Park, Pickett Named ACC Players Of The Week
Junhwan Park and D'Andre Pickett earned ACC Player of the Week honors for leading Cal to a 1-0 upset victory over No. 1 Stanford on Halloween in Berkeley, the conference announced Tuesday. Park shared the ACC Offensive Player of the Week honor with Virginia Tech's Declan Quill, while Pickett claimed the ACC Defensive Player of the Week award. The result gave Cal its first home win of the season. It also kept the Cardinal from capturing the ACC regular-season title and top seed in the ACC Championship, snapping Stanford's 10-game unbeaten streak and five-match shutout streak.
 
Three Bears have now earned ACC Player of the Week honors this year including Luka Lukic, who garnered the first accolade of the season.
 
Bears Stun Stanford To End Regular Season
Cal headed into the ACC Championship riding the momentum of a big 1-0 upset win over top-ranked Stanford in the regular-season finale on Halloween in Berkeley. In 2024, a 1-0 win at then-No. 22 Stanford in the regular-season finale propelled the Bears to a deep run in the ACC Championship, which started with a 2-1 win at No. 14 North Carolina in the first round and continued with the quarterfinal victory at Duke. Cal ended its run after a close semifinal match against No. 7 Clemson in Cary, North Carolina, where the Tigers edged the Bears 3-2.
 
Against the Cardinal, Junhwan Park scored a goal for the third straight game to hand the Bears the win, which marked Cal's first home victory of the season. Cal's win also prevented Stanford from capturing the ACC regular-season title – the Cardinal finished second in the conference – and snapped Stanford's 10-game unbeaten streak as well as its five-match shutout streak.
 
Last Time Vs. Duke: Morales Nets First Goal In Draw
Freshman Noe Morales gave Cal a 1-0 lead over No. 19 Duke with his first goal as a Golden Bear on Sept. 24, but the Blue Devils scored a second-half equalizer at Edwards Stadium, and the teams settled for a 1-1 tie.

In the 22nd minute, Duke cleared a ball from deep in its penalty area only as far as Cal's Wisdom Onuoma, who was inside the top of the box. The defender whipped a cross into the six-yard box, and the ball deflected off one or two Blue Devils by the near post before settling at Morales' feet in front of goal. The unmarked midfielder tapped the ball into the open net for his first collegiate goal. Duke midfielder Alessandro Arlotti headed in the tying goal in the 84th minute.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Cal ranks third in the ACC in penalty kicks scored (4) and in penalty kicks taken (5) and is tied for fourth in corner kicks (103)
• Luka Lukic – a graduate transfer from UC Riverside – was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week for the first week of the season after the forward scored three goals in his first two games as a Golden Bear, including a brace in a 3-2 win at Saint Mary's in the Aug. 21 season opener and the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory at UCLA on Aug. 24
• The Belgrade, Serbia, native leads Cal in goals (8), points (17), shots (40) and shots on goal (21) and has one game-winning goal
• In ACC statistics including all games, Lukic is tied for fourth in goals (8), is sixth in goals per game (0.500) and is sixth in shots on goal per game (1.31)
• Sophomore forward Malcolm Zalayet ranks second in goals (4) and points (10) at Cal
• Sophomore midfielder Junhwan Park and senior defender Alfredo Ortiz are tied for third on the team in scoring with seven points (3 goals, 1 assist each)
• Sophomore midfielder Kieran Bracken Serra leads the Bears in assists (4) and ranks fifth in points (6)
• Ortiz is tied with Cam Wilkerson – a UCLA transfer – for the team high in game-winning goals (2)
• Ortiz was one of 15 players named to the ACC Preseason Watch List this summer after ranking fourth in goals (3) and points (7) for the Bears in 2024
• Ortiz contributed one of Cal's biggest goals of 2024 in the ACC Championship opener last November in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, converting Cal's lone penalty kick of the season to give the Bears a 2-1 win over the host Tar Heels
• Graduate student goalkeeper Connor Lambe, who has started 13 games and played 14, has compiled a 1.89 goals-against average and ranks ninth in the ACC in saves per game (2.50)
• Senior goalkeeper Marco Brougher, who has started in three of seven games played, has a 0.73 GAA and a 0.833 save percentage
• Sophomore goalie Zack Andoh has notched a 1.26 GAA after starting the second halves of five matches
• Freshman winger Callen Lewis is the son of former MLS and USMNT star Eddie Lewis, who played for the San Jose Clash (now Earthquakes) and Los Angeles Galaxy along with several English clubs (Fulham, Preston North End, Leeds United and Derby County) and tallied 82 caps for the United States
• Callen Lewis – who has four points from two goals to rank seventh in scoring at Cal – scored his first collegiate goal in the Sept. 19 match at Clemson
• While Cal just joined the ACC last season, two members of the current squad have had longer tenures in the conference, as defender Sintayehu Clements – now a graduate student – wrapped up a four-year undergraduate career with Duke last season and junior forward Cesar Cordova played the previous two seasons at Virginia
• Leonard Griffin – who won the NCAA championship as a UCLA player in 2002 – was named the 2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year last season and is in his fourth 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 staff includes assistant coaches Ricardo Gutierrez – who worked with Griffin in the latter's previous stops at Grand Canyon and USF – and Jacob Wilson, a Cal men's soccer alumnus
• Henry Foulk – another Golden Bear alum and assistant coach – is in his 25th year of mentoring the goalkeepers at his alma mater
• Foulk (Cal '84) is featured in the 2025 fall edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly for his work in producing numerous goalies who have matriculated to the professional ranks, including current pros Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC, MLS), Drake Callender (Charlotte FC, MLS), David Bingham (Charlotte FC, MLS) and Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena FC, Italy Serie B)

 
Scouting the Panthers

• Pitt upset fourth-seeded Clemson 1-0 in the ACC Championship first round on Wednesday in Clemson, South Carolina, with forward Lasse Dahl scoring the game-winning goal
• Leading scorer and leading goalscorer Arnau Vilamitjana – a midfielder – ranks sixth in the ACC in points (19) and points per game (1.19) and is tied with Cal's Lukic with eight goals
• Vilamitjana, forward Albert Thorsen and defender Niklas Soerensen are tied for the team high in assists (3)
• Goalkeeper Jack Moxom – who made five saves in the upset of Clemson in the ACC first round – holds the following statistical ranks in the ACC: sixth in saves per game (2.88), 10th in GAA (1.294), 10th in shutouts per game (.294) and 10th in save percentage (0.690)
• Jay Vidovich is in his 10th year as Pitt's head coach

 
Bears In The Pros
Cal has continued its tradition of producing talented alumni who move onto the professional ranks, with 15 erstwhile Golden Bears playing in the pros in the United States and abroad in 2025. Two Cal alums play in Europe in goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena FC, Italian Serie B) – who was named to a pair of USMNT friendlies in September – and midfielder JJ Foe Nuphaus (Thisted FC, Denmark Second Division). The erstwhile Bears playing in MLS are goalkeeper David Bingham (Charlotte FC), goalkeeper Drake Callender (Charlotte FC), goalkeeper Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC), defender Sam Junqua (Real Salt Lake), defender Nike Lima (San Jose Earthquakes) and defender Wyatt Meyer (Nashville SC). Two former Cal teammates play in MLS NEXT Pro, with striker Nonso Adimabua on the roster for The Town FC and defender Kevin Carmichael with Huntsville City FC. Four former Bears play in the USL Championship in brothers Taylor and Evan Davila – both are midfielders with Louisville City FC – midfielder Jose Carrera Garcia (Forward Madison FC) and midfielder Jack Singer (Las Vegas Lights FC). Rounding out the list is forward Jonathan Estrada, who plays for Irvine Zeta FC in the NISA.
 
Next Time
If the Bears beat Pitt, they would advance to next Wednesday's semifinal round in Cary, North Carolina, to play the winner of the quarterfinal between top-seeded Virginia and ninth-seeded North Carolina. Cary will host both semifinals and the final.
 
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