Cal Nets Late Goal To Beat San Diego State

SAN DIEGO - Arman Samimi's 81st-minute goal capped a back and forth affair between Cal men's soccer and San Diego State on Saturday, and the Golden Bears held on for a 3-2 victory - their first of the season.

Cal's record improved to 1-3-0 (1-3-0 Pac-12), while SDSU fell to 0-3-1 (0-3-1 Pac-12).
 
"It's never easy to come from behind in any game, especially a Pac-12 game," Cal head coach Kevin Grimes said. "San Diego State took all three of its previous opponents to overtime, so we knew that we had an excellent opponent today. Our guys played a fantastic, committed match and should be congratulated for a great week of training that impacted the outcome of the game."
 
Trailing 1-0 after a 21st-minute goal by SDSU's Inigo Villaldea, Samimi and Nate Carrasco combined to set up the equalizer by Fahmi Ibrahim, who scored past goalkeeper Tetsuya Kadono in the 34th minute.
 
San Diego State outshot Cal 9-2 in the first half. But a valiant effort by goalkeeper Collin Travasos – who made all four of his saves in the first 45 minutes, on his birthday – kept the score 1-1 at halftime.
 
Cal had a strong second half, outshooting its hosts 6-4.
 
The Bears' third shot of the half came in the 63rd minute after a foul gave Cal a free kick just outside the SDSU box. Cal forward Jonathan Estrada scored directly off the free kick to give Cal a 2-1 lead.
 
But the lead lasted less than a minute, as SDSU's Kyle Colonna smacked a header into the Cal net to tie the game at 2-2.
 
With San Diego State threatening in the 73rd minute, SDSU's Colonna fouled one of the Bears in Cal's box to earn a red card, and Cal played the rest of the way up a man.
 
In the 81st minute, a pass found Cal's Carrasco deep in the attacking third, and the freshman forward dished the ball to Samimi in the box.
 
"I saw the goalie come out, I took it around him and put it in," Samimi said.
 
Cal returns home to host UCLA on March 20 at 1 p.m. at Witter Rugby Field.