Sept. 7, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

Friday, Sept. 10
4 p.m. - Saint Mary's (1-0-1) vs. No. 18/19 California (1-0-1)
Edwards Stadium - Berkeley
Series Record vs. Gaels: 18-4-4, Bears
Last Meeting: W, 2-1 (9-20-03)
Coverage: GameTracker, Twitter
Promotion: Free admission!

Sunday, Sept. 12
2 p.m. - UNLV (1-1-0) vs. No. 18/19 California (1-0-1)
Edwards Stadium - Berkeley
Series Record vs. Rebels: 2-3-1, Bears
Last Meeting: W, 1-0 (10-4-98)
Coverage: GameTracker, Twitter
Promotion: Free admission!

BERKELEY - California opens its home schedule when the No. 18/19 Golden Bears (1-0-1 record) host the 14th annual Cal Legacy Classic at Edwards Stadium. Cal plays Saint Mary's (1-0-1) at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 10, and then takes on UNLV (1-1-0) at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 12. The Cal Legacy Classic consists of six teams, including Stanford, UC Davis and Sacramento State, and six games. Four games will take place outside of Berkeley.

Cal Legacy Classic Schedule

Friday, Sept. 10
2 p.m. - UNLV at Stanford
4 p.m. - Saint Mary's at Cal
5 p.m. - UC Davis at Sacramento State

Sunday, Sept. 12
2 p.m. - UNLV at Cal
5 p.m. - Saint Mary's at UC Davis
6 p.m. - Sacramento State at Stanford

Flash Back: Bears Top GW, Cal Poly in 2009 Cal Legacy Classic
Forward Andrew Wiedeman collected three goals and three assists as the Bears blanked George Washington, 4-0, and beat Cal Poly, 3-1, to claim the 13th annual Cal Legacy Classic title. Midfielder Hector Jimenez posted a total of one goal and two assists in the two games.

Scouting the Golden Bears
Back in 2010, senior defender A.J. Soares and junior goalkeeper David Bingham came up big for the Bears in Indiana, where Cal opened the season by claiming the title of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. First, Cal upset then-No. 20/21 Indiana, 2-1, in double over time in Bloomington, Ind., and then the Bears tied then-No. 18 Notre Dame, 0-0, in double overtime in Notre Dame, Ind. Bingham made seven saves against the Hoosiers and nine saves against the Irish. Bingham now owns a 0.41 goals-against average.

Soares, honored by the Pac-10 and College Soccer News (see below), marshaled a defense that did not break against Notre Dame and allowed just one goal to an Indiana squad that beat then-No. 5 UCLA 5-1 on Sept. 5.

Senior midfielder Servando Carrasco and senior forward Davis Paul joined Soares and Bingham on the all-tournament team. Senior midfielder Hector Jimenez combined with Paul to set up Carrasco for the first goal against the Hoosiers, while Carrasco assisted Paul on the golden goal.

Cal has a 18-4-4 record in the all-time series with Saint Mary's and a 2-3-1 all-time record against UNLV. The Bears last played the Gaels in 2003, when they knocked off Saint Mary's, 2-1. Cal last battled the Rebels in 1998, when Cal won, 1-0.

Kevin Grimes, who is in his 11th season as head coach at Cal, has a 115-69-22 overall record.

Scouting the Opposition Saint Mary's tied Cal State Fullerton, 0-0, in double overtime on Sept. 3 and beat then-No. 9 Northwestern, 3-2, on Sept. 5 to open the season and capture its own Saint Mary's Tournament. Against Northwestern, sophomore defender Trevor Newquist collected a goal and an assist to lead the Gaels to a 3-0 lead after 18 minutes. Junior goalie Doug Herrick made two second-half saves and the Gaels held on after the Wildcats scored twice in the final 45 minutes. Against the Titans, Herrick made two saves to claim a shutout.

Adam Cooper, the 2009 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year, is in his fifth year as Saint Mary's head coach. The WCC preseason coaches' poll tabbed the Gaels to finish fourth in the conference.

UNLV plays at Stanford at 2 p.m. on Sept. 10 before playing on Sunday in Berkeley. The Rebels split their games - losing, 1-0, to Valparaiso on Sept. 3 and beating Alabama A&M, 8-1, on Sept. 5 - in their UNLV Nike Invitational. Senior midfielder Stephen Sifuentes, who leads UNLV in points, produced six points (2 goals, 2 assists) in the Rebels' victory. The Rebels outshot Valparaiso, 16-5, with a game-high five shots for Sifuentes.

Former Rebels' star Rich Ryerson is in his first year as head coach of UNLV, which was picked to finish seventh in the MPSF preseason coaches' poll.

A.J. Soars After IU Tourney
A.J. Soares earned the Pac-10 Player of the Week award on Sept. 7 and claimed a spot on this week's College Soccer News Team of the Week for his superb play that led the Golden Bears to the title of the season-opening adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.

The senior co-captain earned the tournament's defensive MVP award and a spot on the all-tournament team after Cal's performances against two nationally ranked teams.

This marks Soares' first Pac-10 Player of the Week accolade and the 15th for the Cal program.

Pollsters Take Notice
The Bears' success against a pair of ranked teams on the opening weekend propelled them into three national polls: No. 18 (College Soccer News) No. 19 (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) and No. 19 (Soccer America).

Admission Free
For the 2010 regular season, all of the Cal men's soccer home games will be free to fans. To see the full schedule, please click here.

Terrific Twitter
You can get the latest news and insider information by following Cal men's soccer on Twitter! Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates that are only 140 characters long. Followers of @CalMensSoccer can see in-game scoring updates, pictures, links to stories on CalBears.com and more! To become a follower, point your browser to twitter.com/CalMensSoccer.

The Paparazzi
Like any of the pictures on CalBears.com? They are available for purchase! GoldenBearSports.com, the official photographer of the Cal Athletics Department, has game photos available for purchase on their Web site at GoldenBearSports.com. You can also follow @GBSports on Twitter to get instant notifications when new albums and galleries are posted to the website. Visit twitter.com/gbsports to follow.

Next Week
Cal plays in the Bay Area Classic, battling the Broncos at Santa Clara at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16 and hosting the Dons of San Francisco at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 19.