Oct. 20, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

This Week
No. 20/25 California (8-5-0 overall, 2-3-0 Pac-10) plays No. 2 UCLA (8-1-2, 3-0-2) and San Diego State (4-4-4, 1-2-2) for the second straight week. The Golden Bears host the Bruins at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, and the Aztecs at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25, at Edwards Stadium. Cal will honor its five seniors as part of Senior Day prior to the San Diego State match, the final regular-season home game for forward Jeff Cosgriff, goalkeeper Patrick Fry, defender Imaan Kerchgani, defender Evan Sassano and defender Jacob Wilson.

The Bears are ranked No. 20 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll and are tied for No. 25 in the Soccer America poll.

Scouting the Golden Bears
Cal is on a two-game losing streak after dropping road games to UCLA, 1-0, on Oct. 16 in Los Angeles and to San Diego State, 2-1, in overtime on Oct. 18 in San Diego. Junior defender A.J. Soares converted an 89th-minute penalty kick that forced the SDSU game to overtime for Cal's lone goal on the trip.

Junior forward Andrew Wiedeman continues to lead the Bears in goals (10), points (23) and game-winning goals (5). He has three assists. Nationally, he ranks ninth in goals per game (0.77) and is tied for 11th in points per game (1.77). Wiedeman leads the Pac-10 Conference in points, goals and goals per game, and he ranks second in points per game.

Jeff Cosgriff ranks second for Cal in points (16), goals (6) and assists (4). Junior midfielder Hector Jimenez (1 goal, 8 assists) paces Cal in assists and ranks third in points (10). Jimenez ranks seventh in the nation in assists per game (0.62) and leads the Pac-10 in assists and assists per game.

As a team, Cal ranks 14th in scoring offense (2.0 goals per game) nationally and leads the Pac-10 in goals (26), goals per game and corner kicks (76).

Cal sophomore goalkeeper David Bingham, who made eight saves last week against UCLA, has compiled a 0.94 goals-against average in 11 starts.

Bears freshman midfielder Chris Ortega is the brother of SDSU midfielder Daniel Ortega.

Scouting the Opposition
UCLA is ranked No. 2 by both Soccer America and the NSCAA. U.S. under-20 national team midfielder Kyle Nakazawa leads UCLA in points (21), goals (8) and game-winning goals (3). Bruins senior goalie Brian Perk, another U.S. U-20 who is also the current Pac-10 Player of the Week, has a 0.85 GAA in four starts. Senior forward David Estrada, who scored the winning goal against Cal in their last meeting, leads UCLA in assists (6) and is tied for second in points (10) for the Bruins.

Former Bruins player Jorge Salcedo is in his sixth year as head coach at UCLA, which also features senior Danny Suits, the brother of Cal women's midfielder Katie Suits.

Before playing Cal, San Diego State will play at No. 21 Stanford at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23. Junior forward Raymundo Reza, who scored the first goal and assisted on the game-winning goal against Cal on Oct. 16, leads the Aztecs in points (11) and is tied for the team lead in goals (4). Junior goalie Brad Byrns, who made four saves in the 2-1 upset of Cal, has a 1.33 GAA in 11 games for SDSU.

The Aztecs' Lev Kirshner is in his 10th season as the head coach of his alma mater.

Next Week
Cal travels to the Pacific Northwest for games at Washington, at 7 p.m. on Oct. 30, and at Oregon State, at 2 p.m. on Nov. 1.