Cal Men's Soccer upsets No. 14 UNC and No. 2 Duke in ACC Tournament

Golden Bears will face No.7 Clemson at the neutral site of Cary, NC in the ACC semifinal. Note: these are national rankings from before the start of the ACC tournament.

Ryan Coe’s pair of 54-yard field goals on Friday night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina were pivotal to Cal Football’s first-ever ACC victory. Even though the final margin was 10 points due to a late TD, Cal Football needed those six points to fend off the late Wake Forest comeback attempt.

Coe is not the only California Golden Bears to have kicked well in the state of North Carolina this past week, however. Coincidentally, Coe’s predecessor Michael Luckhurst got to celebrate with his friend and former teammate Fernando Mendoza after the game on Friday. Luckhurst’s current teammates on Cal Men’s Soccer have had the tough task of playing the first two ACC tournament games at the home of North Carolina and Duke.

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Needing wins to extend their season, Cal Men’s Soccer Golden Bears have already earned two crucial ACC tournament wins, both from the state of North Carolina, last Wednesday and then Sunday.

On the heel of the dramatic 1-0 win at No.22 Stanford in the Big Classico, Cal Men’s Soccer carried that confidence to Chapel Hill to open the ACC tournament last Wednesday. Playing in easily the best D1 college soccer conference in the country, Cal both faced the tall order to win their way into the NCAA postseason and had the opportunities to boost their at-large bid resume should they fall a bit short of the automatic bid.

Photo Credit: CalBears.com

ACC First Round - November 6th, 2024:

Cal 2, North Carolina 1

Knowing that they are in a win-or-go-home situation, Cal was unfazed by being down 0-1 at the half in a hostile environment. UNC Tar Heels struck first with a 7th-minute goal due to Luke Hille’s second effort, but the Cal Bears will not quit.

Freshman Malcolm Zalayet first equalized the match in the 64th minute with his 3rd goal of the season on a set piece via a Santiago Hopkins throw in. Fourteen minutes later, Zalayet earned a penalty kick in the box. Junior Alfredo Ortiz converted Cal’s first penalty kick of the season for the game-winning goal. Ortiz had a great free kick early in this game to force a save (see the highlight below).

Cal goalkeeper Marco Brougher had to make some saves to preserve the lead, but the Golden Bears found a way to extend their season, improving to 7-7-2 then and a Sunday date at No.2 nationally but 3rd seed in the ACC Duke Blue Devils.

ACC Quarterfinals - November 10th, 2024:

Cal 2, Duke 0

Southern hospitality showed up in the form of an early Duke own goal in the second minute. Cal striker Nonso Adimabua earned a free kick. Alfredo Ortiz put the ball in a great spot inside the box where a Duke player headed the ball into his own goal.

Arik Duncan scored his team-high 5th goal of the season in the 17th minute.

The Cal defense of goalkeeper Marco Brougher with the experienced defenders Kevin Carmichael, Wyatt Meyer, and Santiago Hopkins played lights out the rest of the way to earn the clean sheet. Duke dominated the second-half scoring chances by outshooting Cal 10-2 in the second half and 19-5 for the game.

Cal improves to 8-7-2 on the season (although one of those wins is against a non-D1 opponent) and up to 26th in the RPI - in prime position to earn a spot in the NCAA postseason tournament bracket of 48.

What is next?

The low-scoring nature of soccer matches means that upsets are more likely than some of the other sports. All it takes is a few moments of brilliance to turn a match.

One only has to look at the MLS to see a massive upset this past weekend where Cal alum Drake Callender and Inter Miami (AKA Messi and Friends) were knocked out of the MLS postseason despite a record-breaking regular season.

The semifinal and final rounds of the ACC Men’s Soccer Tournament will be at the neutral site of Cary, North Carolina. Cal will face Clemson (No.7 in the coaches poll, No.14 in RPI) on Thursday at 5 PM PT. Should Cal win in the semifinal, the ACC conference championship final will take place on Sunday, November 17th.

The recent three-match winning streak has elevated Cal into the NCAA at-large bid conversation even if they fall short of the ACC title. Nonetheless, head coach Leonard Griffin’s side will be focused on winning that ACC automatic bid. Golden Bears are playing their best soccer at just the right time.

ROLL ON YOU BEARS!