BERKELEY – Defender Beau Morrison scored his second career goal to power the 12th-seeded California men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over 13th-seeded Pitt on Sunday in the ACC Championship quarterfinals and set up a meeting between the Golden Bears and top-seeded Virginia in the semifinals.
 
Cal has posted three straight wins – including two at home – and captured four of its last five games to improve its record to 8-7-2. The Bears will return to the ACC semifinals, which they reached last year in their first season in the conference.
 
The Panthers' record fell to 6-7-5.
 
"We can't speak enough about the character of our group and sticking with each other through the highs and the lows of the season and always believing in themselves to get results or to bounce back at the right times," Cal head coach Leonard Griffin said. "The camaraderie off the field is matched by the effort and work rate on the field, and it's been awesome. I'm extremely happy for the group."
 
Morrison scored at the 34:10 mark. After a Cal throw in was sent into the Pitt penalty area, the ball was cleared just as far as Alfredo Ortiz about seven yards from the top of the box. The defender redirected the ball to Gaku Nishimura, and the midfielder served it back into the box and towards the far post. Midfielder Cam Wilkerson nodded the ball down towards the near post, where the onrushing Morrison slammed the ball into the back of the net.
 
"For our defenders to get on both sides of the stat sheet, you can't say enough about them," Griffin said. "We know that Beau and all our guys on defense can be dangerous on set pieces, so I'm happy today that one of our defenders got us the winner. Beau has been a monster, and we're excited for that partnership between him and D'Andre Pickett in central defense to get better and better."
 
The Bears kept Pitt from taking another shot the rest of the half while they took two more, with forward Malcolm Zalayet forcing a save out of Moxom at 44:45. They took the 1-0 lead into halftime.
 
In the dying seconds of the game, Pitt's Miguel Bertran launched a desperation shot into the Cal penalty area that caromed off the crossbar and down into a mix of Bears and Panthers. Cal eventually cleared the ball to preserve the 1-0 win.
 
"Thanks to everyone who came out with their support today," Griffin said. "The crowd was a 12th man. All the representatives of Cal Athletics who came out today including our student-athletes from other teams. They were unbelievable all game long. Sometimes that's what you need this time of year – just a little bit extra – and we got that today. I'm very proud of Cal and our team."
 
The Bears will face the Cavaliers on Thursday in Cary, North Carolina, at either 2:30 p.m. PT or 5 p.m. PT. Cary's WakeMed Park will host both ACC semifinals on Thursday as well as next Sunday's final. The ACC Network will broadcast the semifinals, while ESPNU will air the championship match.
 
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