BERKELEY, Calif. – The No. 15 California Golden Bears (5-1-0) won their fifth consecutive match on Sunday, defeating Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (0-6-2) 2-1 at Edwards Stadium. The Bears benefitted from two first half goals; senior forward Stefano Bonomo's fifth of the season in the 17th minute and senior midfielder Connor Hallisey's sixth of the campaign in the 21st minute. SIUE senior forward Christian Volesky tallied his fifth of the year, but it was not enough for the Cougars.

“It was a great weekend for us overall,” head coach Kevin Grimes said on Sunday afternoon. “Bringing in two high quality out-of-region opponents is important for our development into the season. We took strides in both games and have learned more about ourselves and that is really important going into this next week of training.”

Much like on Friday against No. 11 Delaware, the Bears opened up the match quickly. Bonomo was the benefactor of a Cougars turnover just outside the box in the 17^th minute and went in one-on-one with SIUE goalkeeper Kent Kobernus. Bonomo finished coolly into the bottom of the far post to open the scoring for Cal. Bonomo’s five goals thus far this season are just one shy of his 2013 output.

Just under five minutes later, Cal doubled its lead. Hallisey and redshirt freshman midfielder Jose Carrera-Garcia had some nice combination, as their give-and-go resulted in Hallisey finding space inside the area. His powerful low, driven shot beat Kobernus soundly to his far post to put the Bears in front 2-0. Hallisey has now posted 17 points in his first six matches (six goals and five assists) and continues to lead the Pac-12 in that category.

“Dylan (Serrano) overlapped me and the defenders went with him, so there was a lane on the inside,” Hallisey said following the match. “I dribbled inside and was looking for someone to combine with. (Jose) popped out allowing for a nice combination and I was able to slot it through the goalie’s legs.”

SIUE nearly pulled one back in the 27^th minute when they were awarded a penalty on a foul by Cal redshirt senior goalkeeper Justin Taillole. Volesky stepped up to the spot, but his shot clanged off the crossbar, and his rebound attempt flew harmlessly wide, keeping the Cal advantage at 2-0.

The Cougars came out very strong in the second half and were pushing for their first goal. It finally came in the 77^th minute of play, when senior defender Matt Polster played Volesky into the area. He maneuvered around Tailloloe and finished into the far post from a difficult angle to cut the Cal lead in half.

SIUE fought for the final 13 minutes, seeking an equalizer, but the Golden Bears defense held strong to pull out their fifth straight victory and improved to 4-0-0 on Goldman Field at Edwards Stadium. Taillole made his fifth consecutive start and made five saves in the win.

The Bears will be in action next Friday at Santa Clara, when they take on the Broncos in their final non-conference match of the season. They begin Pac-12 play on Oct. 2, when they travel to Seattle to do battle with the No. 8 Washington Huskies. Fans are encouraged to interact with @CalMensSoccer on Twitter during the match and can stay up to date on statistics and live updates during the game.

                                    1          2           F
SIUE                            0          1          1
No. 15 Cal                   2          0           2

Scoring Summary
Cal –  16:12    Bonomo, Stefano (unassisted)
Cal –  20:59    Hallisey, Connor (Carrera-Garcia, Jose)
SIUE – 76:40  Volesky, Christian (Polster, Matt)

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