The California men's soccer team opens the 2025 season on the road this week as the Golden Bears face Saint Mary's on Thursday and UCLA on Sunday.
 
While the Golden Bears defeated the Gaels at home 4-2 last October, they have not seen the Bruins since 2023 when the two programs were members of the Pac-12.
 
Match Information
 
Saint Mary's
·       Date and Time: Thursday, August 21 at 5:00 p.m.
·       Location: Moraga, CA – Saint Mary's Stadium
·       Live Stream: ESPN+
·       Live Stats: Statbroadcast
 
UCLA
·       Date and Time: Sunday, August 24 at 7 p.m.
·       Location: Los Angeles, CA – Wallis Annenberg Stadium
·       Live Stream: TBA
·       Live Stats: TBA
 
 
The Roster
Head coach Leonard Griffin returns a group of talented Bears for 2025 including sophomore forward Malcolm Zalayet, the team's top returning goalscorer who netted four goals last year. Zalayet also led Cal in assists with four. Alfredo Ortiz, another returning sophomore, was the Bears' fourth-leading scorer last year with seven points from three goals and one assist. Earlier this week he was named to the Preseason All-ACC team as voted on by the conference's head coaches. Goalkeeper Connor Lambe – who posted a 1.06 goals-against average in 12 games for the Bears in 2023 – is back as a graduate student this fall.
 
2024 Recap
Cal made a big impact in its first season in the ACC. Among the Golden Bears' highlights were a 1-0 upset at top-ranked Pitt – with Nonso Adimabua scoring in the Bears' first conference win – and a late surge that featured three road wins over ranked opponents. Kevin Carmichael scored to lead the Bears to a 1-0 win at No. 22 Stanford in the regular-season finale before they began play in the ACC Championship. The Bears upset No. 14 North Carolina 2-1 in the first round – with the winning goal coming from their first penalty kick of the year – and upset No. 2 Duke 2-0 in the quarterfinals. A close 3-2 loss to No. 7 Clemson completed the season, with the Bears finishing with an 8-8-2 record.
 
Cal collected a bevy of honors: Carmichael and Adimabua were named to All-ACC teams, Marco Brougher garnered CSC Academic All-America status, 10 Bears were named to the All-ACC Academic Team and Santiago Hopkins collected the Luke Kreinberg North Star Achievement Award. Arik Duncan was chosen by CF Montreal in the MLS SuperDraft, while Carmichael and Wyatt Meyer – selected in the previous year's MLS SuperDraft by Nashville SC – along with Adimabua also began their professional careers.
 
Stay Posted
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