Aug. 20, 2008

BERKELEY - The California men's soccer team was selected 14th in the Soccer Times preseason national rankings on Wednesday. The Golden Bears, who look for a third consecutive Pac-10 championship this year, were the second-highest Pac-10 team in the poll, just below No. 13 UCLA.

Cal will square off against four teams in 2008 that were ranked in the top 10 of the poll - No. 3 Santa Clara, No. 4 Maryland, No. 8 Creighton and No. 9 SMU. Reigning NCAA champion Wake Forest was picked No. 1 in the poll, followed by Connecticut at No. 2.

The Bears were recently picked No. 13 in the College Soccer News preseason poll. In the preseason Pac-10 poll, Cal was picked to win the conference title for the first time in the nine-year history of the poll, as voted by the league's six coaches. Cal tallied 24 points and four of the six first-place votes.

The Bears open their season against UC Riverside on Friday, Aug. 29, at 2 p.m. at Edwards Stadium. The following week, Cal will be joined by Stanford, SMU and Cornell in the Cal Legacy Classic at Edwards Stadium. Cal will face Cornell Friday, Sept. 5, at 4 p.m. and SMU Sunday, Sept. 7, at 2:30 p.m.