Sept. 2, 1997
No. 10 Cal Faces San Jose State at Home
THIS WEEK:
Sunday, Sept. 7
San Jose State
Witter Field
4 p.m.
NEXT WEEK:
Fri., Sept. 12
Rhode Island
Providence, RI
5 p.m. ET
Sunday, Sept. 14
Brown
Providence, RI
12 noon ET
BEARS STAY HOME: After opening the 1997 season with a 3-0 shutout of UC Davis, Cal went on to tie Saint Mary's, 1-1, in a double overtime match-up. The Bears are 1-0-1 on the year and will face the San Jose State Spartans in a 4 p.m. game Sunday, Sept. 7, at Witter Field. The Bears lost to the Spartans last season, 4-2, in San Jose. J.V. Ganal and Matt Newmark each had a goal for Cal in the loss.
BEARS MOVE UP IN RANKINGS: The Bears moved up two notches in the national rankings published by Soccer America, now holding the tenth spot. The Bears face four other teams in the Soccer America poll this year: No. 1 Indiana, No. 7 Washington, No. 11 Portland and No. 20 Rhode Island.
WEEK ONE HIGHLIGHTS: The Bears got off to a good start, defeating the UC Davis Aggies, 3-0, in the season opener on Aug. 30. Cal did not wait to long to get on the board, as senior Mike Haralambakis found senior Adam Hunter, who launched the ball into the back of the net with his left foot for the first goal six minutes into the game . Junior John Beck and sophomore Justin Bell scored the remaining goals for the Bears in the second half. In posting his first shutout of the season, sophomore All-America candidate Doug Brooks had four saves. Against Saint Mary's, the Bears had 41 shots on goal compared to the Gaels 20, but both teams managed to score only one goal apiece. Sophomore John Macdonald, in his first start of the year, put Cal on the board at the 19-minute mark in the first half off a cross from Beck. Saint Mary's came back to tie the game in the second half on a Cal's "own goal." Despite playing a man short in overtime after a player ejection thirteen minutes into the first overtime, Cal held Saint Mary's scoreless due mostly to sophomore Derrick Dyslin's strong defensive play. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.
LA CANADA CONNECTION: Sophomores Derrick Dyslin, Chris Sawicki and Chap Early are reunited as teammates once again, this time as members of the Cal squad. Dyslin, Sawicki and Early were members of the La Canada High School team(1993-96) that went undefeated (50-0-0) in '95 and '96, their junior and senior seasons. La Canada was ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and the NSCAA both of those years and holds the only unbeaten two-year record in California Interscholastic Federation history. Dyslin is a transfer from the University of Richmond and is a starting defender for the Bears. Sawicki is in his second season in a Bear uniform and returns as the starting sweeper.
ABOUT SAN JOSE STATE: The Spartans were 10-6-3 in 1996, 4-2-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. Head coach Gary St. Clair is in his eighth year at San Jose State and has a career record of 55-69-10. The Bears lost four starters from the '96 team that finished fourth in the WAC. Top returnees include junior forward Aman Kebreab (13 goals, 6 assists), sophomore forward Chap Harper (10 goals, 5 assists) and senior goalkeeper Brandon Main (65 saves, 1.45 GAA).
THE COACHES: Head coach Mark Mallon is in his fifth season at the helm for the Bears with a school and career record of 32-39-8. Last season, Mallon guided Cal to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1986. He is joined for the third year by assistant coach Lyle Yorks, a former All-American at the University of Virginia.
