No. 15 Cal Set for Senior Day Showdown with No. 3 Stanford

BERKELEY, Calif. - Cal dropped its first two home matches of the year to Oregon State and then-No. 3 Washington last weekend. The Bears’ offense, which leads the nation in scoring average (2.63), scored five goals over the weekend, but surrendered seven, losing by just one goal in each game. Prior to last weekend, Cal completed a season sweep of the Bruins for the first time since 2006. The Bears opened Pac-12 play with two tough road losses, but rebounded with two conference wins at home, defeating then-No. 2 UCLA 3-2 and San Diego State, 4-3. The Blue and Gold followed up with a road draw against No. 13 Stanford, but continued its hot streak with a 2-0 weekend in SoCal. Cal defeated SDSU for the second time this year, 2-1, thanks to a pair of goals from Christian Thierjung and Paul Salcedo, before closing out the weekend with a win over No. 1 UCLA.

The match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network. Live stats will be available on CalBears.com and scoring updates will also be provided on the @CalMensSoccer Twitter account.

SCOUTING STANFORD
• Will play without likes of Jordan Morris as he has been called into camp by the US Men’s National Team
• Undefeated in its last eight games (5-0-3)
• One point clear of UCLA in the Pac-12 rankings for first place
• Corey Baird earned Pac-12 player of the week honors in back-to-back weeks
• Leads the league in shots per game (17.95), goals allowed (.82 pg), and goals against avg (.79).

SENIOR SALUTE
Cal will honor its nine seniors before Sunday’s match: Stefano Bonomo, Seth Casiple, Connor Hallisey, Omid Jalali, Max Oldham, Kevin Peach, Bobby Sekine, Dylan Serrano and Justin Taillole. 

Career Stats

                   GP-GS       Shots    Goals   Assts. Pts
BONOMO    64-41        96         21        6         48
CASIPLE     72-71        84         6          26       38
HALLISEY   69-52        100       11        18       40
JALALI         57-5          48         10        3         23
OLDHAM     50-21        34         3          9         15
SEKINE       48-23        4           0          0           0
SERRANO  55-38        10         0          4           4

                   GP-GS       Min             W-L-T        SO
PEACH       26-25        2366:48      9-13-4         5
TAILOLLE   31-30        2656:00      21-6-3         9

HOME COOKING
The Golden Bears won their first six matches at home in 2014. They knocked off Cleveland State 6-1 on 9/12, defeated WCC foe Gonzaga 1-0 on 9/14, then-No. 11 Delaware 4-2 on 9/19, SIUE 2-1 on 9/21, No. 2 UCLA 3-2 in overtime and San Diego State 4-3.

GOAL ON YOU BEARS
Cal has scored 42 goals in 16 matches in 2014, including six on 9/12 in a 6-1 win over Cleveland State, four on 9/19 in a 4-2 win over then-No. 11 Delaware, four on 9/26 in a 4-0 win at Santa Clara and four in a 4-3 victory over San Diego State on 10/12. The six goal output was the most by a Cal team in 17 years, and they have scored four or more goals five times already in 2014, when they didn’t score more than three in a game in 2013. Cal leads the Pac-12 in goals-per-game average with 2.64 goals-per-game, which is the best mark in the country. Cal also leads the country in total points per game (8.29) and assists per game (3.00).

#CONNORONFIRE
Senior forward Connor Hallisey is having quite the 2014 campaign. He has posted 27 points (eight goals and 11 assists) in 16 matches, which marks second in the Pac-12 and is tied for ninth nationally in total points. Last season’s leading point man was Steve Birnbaum, who finished the year with 21 points and has been named the Pac-12’s Player of the Week twice this year. Hallisey logged the game-winning goal that saw the Bears defeat No. UCLA on Nov. 2.

THREE’S COMPANY
Three Golden Bears have scored six or more goals so far this season, led by senior forward Stefano Bonomo (10), fellow senior Connor Hallisey (eight) and sophomore Christian Thierjung has seven.

PAC-12 LEADERS
Senior Stefano Bonomo is second in the Pac-12 in goals scored so far this season (10), while Connor Hallisey is tied for fourth with eight and Christian Thierjung is tied for sixth with seven. The trio is also second, fourth and sixth in points per game, as Hallisey is averaging 1.69, Bonomo has been posting 1.64 and Thierjung is at 1.00. Hallisey is also tied for the lead in the conference in assists (11) next to Oregon State’s Khiry Shelton (11).

BALLIN’ BONOMO
Senior forward Stefano Bonomo has scored 10 goals and has tallied three assists in 14 matches played this season for the Bears. He has netted goals in three of his last six conference games, including two consecutive matches at home vs. then-No. 2 UCLA and SDSU. He also scored his first career hat-trick earlier in the campaign in a 6-1 win over Cleveland State on 9/14.

GET CHAZZY ON IT
Redshirt freshman forward Matt Chasman came on as a substitute in the match on 10/12 vs. San Diego State and immediately made an impact. He registered an assist and a goal within his first four minutes on the field. He now has two goals and one assist on the season.

A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
Fourteen different Golden Bears have posted assists thus far in 2014, and Cal as a team has 48 assists on their 40 goals. Senior forward Connor Hallisey has 11 to lead the team, while senior midfielder Seth Casiple and senior forward Max Oldham have six apiece.

PAC-12 POWER
The Pac-12 is comprised of six teams; four of which are ranked in the top 15 of the latest NSCAA/Continental Tire Poll. Washington (11-3-1) is the highest ranked Pac-12 team in the country at 3rd, Cal (9-3-1) is 7th, while UCLA (10-3-4) is 8th, and Stanford (10-2-3) is 10th. San Diego State (7-6-0) and Oregon State are the only unranked teams in the conference.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN(S)
Though two of last season’s three co-captains have moved on to Major League Soccer, the Bears are not short on leadership. Senior midfielder Seth Casiple wears the armband and is joined by fellow seniors Dylan Serrano and Omid Jalali.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING
The California Golden Bears go by the moniker Cal, and it is incredibly appropriate, considering the team’s roster is made up of 23 players from the Golden State. Only three of the 26 players are from outside of California, in sophomore defender Trevor Haberkorn (Keller, Texas), senior goalkeeper Justin Taillole (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and freshman defender Ugo Rebecchini (Rome, Italy).

GRIMES AMONG COUNTRY’S ELITE
Head coach Kevin Grimes is in his 15th season with the Golden Bears and has cemented himself as one of the nation’s best. The 2013 NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) All Far West Region Coach of the Year has compiled a record of 163-97-36 record in Berkeley and trails only Cal Athletics Hall of Famer Bob DiGrazia in total wins (202 from 1952-1980).

BEARS IN THE PROS
Currently 16 former Bears are playing professionally, including 12 who are currently on MLS rosters. Rookie Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), fellow rookies Christian Dean (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) and Alec Sundly (New England Revolution) were all part of the 2013 Bears during their Quarterfinal run. Additionally, Anthony Avalos (SK Vard Haugesund), David Bingham (Strommen IF), Servando Carrasco (Houston Dynamo), Chris Cortez (Orange County Blues), Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC), Andrew Jacobson (New York City FC), Hector Jimenez (Columbus Crew), Eric Kronberg (Sporting Kansas City), Leo Krupnik (Maccabi Um El Fahm), Josh Saunders (New York City FC), A.J. Soares (New England Revolution), Tyson Wahl (Columbus Crew) and Andrew Wiedeman (Toronto FC) are all currently on professional rosters.