Bears Play First ACC Game At NC State

Alfredo Ortiz, a Cal newcomer who got his first start in the win at CSUN, joins the Bears on the program’s first trip to NC State this week.

MSOC9/3/2024 4:04 PM | By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – In the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference matchup, the California men’s soccer team (2-2-0) takes on North Carolina State on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. The game will mark the first competition of any Cal team to appear on the ACC Network as well as the first meeting between the two schools in men’s soccer.
 
Cal is coming off of a split of a trip to Southern California, including a 1-0 victory over Cal State Northridge on Sunday, when Justin Knighton scored the game-winning goal on his birthday.
 
Here are the details for Friday’s game:
 
at NC State (2-0-1)
When: Friday, Sept. 6, 5 p.m. PT
Where: Dail Soccer Field, Raleigh, North Carolina
Watch: ACC Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Knighton, Brougher Star In Win At CSUN
Justin Knighton scored his first career goal and goalkeeper Marco Brougher made clutch saves to lead Cal to a 1-0 win at CSUN on Sunday night. That gave the Bears a split of their recent trip, which started with a 1-0 setback at LMU last Thursday.
 
Against the Lions in Los Angeles, Cal had an 8-3 shot advantage in the second half, but the Bears couldn’t match Josh Elash’s 76th-minute goal in the loss.
 
In Northridge against the Matadors, Knighton – who turned 19 on Sunday – broke open a tight game with his goal in the 74th minute. Freshman Malcolm Zalayet and junior Alfredo Ortiz combined to set up the sophomore midfielder’s strike, with Knighton fighting off a defender to collect the ball with his back to goal at the top of the box. He turned and juked to make two defenders move right, switched the ball to his left foot as goalkeeper Merrick Cook crept closer to his far right post, and then Knighton blasted the ball inside the other post.
 
In the 90th minute, Brougher made his fourth save of the game on a diving effort to preserve the win.
 
Scouting Cal

• The Bears have three different goal scorers through four games – Justin Knighton, freshman defender Beau Morrison, who scored in the season-opening 2-1 loss to Denver on Aug. 22, and sophomore defender Giancarlo Mota, who scored the game-winning goal in the 1-0 result…