STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 18 California Golden Bears (8-3-1, 2-2-1 Pac-12) earned a road draw against the No. 13 Stanford Cardinal (8-2-2, 2-1-2 Pac-12), 1-1, at Cagan Stadium on Monday night in the season’s first edition of the Bay Area Derby. Redshirt freshman Jose Carrera-Garciascored in the seventh minute to stake the Bears to an early 1-0 lead. Stanford leveled the match in the 76th minute on a goal by senior forward Zach Batteer in a goalmouth scramble. Cal redshirt senior goalkeeper Justin Taillole made a career-high 12 saves in the draw.

“It was a hard fought match tonight,” said head coach Kevin Grimes. “It was a game where both teams left every ounce of energy out on the field. I think both teams will look back at the game and might wish that the result had gone one way or the other, but it seemed like tonight might have been destined for a draw.”

The Bears started with a bang, finding the back of the net in the seventh minute of play. A cross from senior forwardConnor Hallisey found fellow senior Max Oldham at the back post. Oldham laid off a well-placed header to the penalty spot, where Carrera-Garcia lashed his shot into the far post to provide the Bears with the early 1-0 advantage.

Just moments later, Stanford nearly equalized. Freshman midfielder Corey Bair played a cross into redshirt senior Bobby Edwards, but his header was saved by Justin Taillole.

Cal created numerous chances throughout the first half, but was unable to add a second. In the 23rd minute, a long diagonal ball played by sophomore defender Trevor Haberkorn found senior forward Stefano Bonomo on a dime in the box. His off-balanced effort was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Epstein. Freshman forward Paul Salcedo played some nice, quick combination with Hallisey, and Salcedo’s effort from inside the area struck the woodwork of the near post, keeping things at 1-0 at the break.

Stanford applied plenty of pressure out of the break, nearly grabbing the equalizer in the 49th and 50th minutes with chances in front of goal. Though Cal absorbed a lot of the pressure, Stanford finally broke through in the 76th minute on Batteer’s finish off of a goalmouth scramble on a corner kick.

The overtime periods saw a lot of action, much like regulation did, and both sides had opportunities to grab the three points. Stanford came close in the 98th and 99th minutes, respectively when Edwards struck a shot from about 20 yards out and rattled the crossbar and then Batteer nearly doubled his tally with a header that soared over the same bar. The Golden Bears nearly seized the golden goal in the 102nd minute when Hallisey squared a ball across for Bonomo inside the area, but his shot went just wide of the target.

Senior co-captain Seth Casiple struck side netting on his 105th minute free kick attempt from about 22 yards out. He tried to bend it around the wall and nearly found the inside of the near post. Stanford outshot the Bears 34-15, but Cal was able to earn a hard-fought and valuable point on the road to improve to 2-2-1 in Pac-12 play.

The Golden Bears continue their road trip to Southern California on Thursday, Oct. 30, when they battle San Diego State and then venture to Westwood to take on the No. 14 UCLA Bruins. Cal knocked off both of those sides in Berkeley last weekend, defeating the then-No. 2 Bruins 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 10 and the Aztecs 4-3 on Oct. 12. The UCLA game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks with a 7 p.m. start time. Fans are encouraged to interact with @CalMensSoccer on Twitter during the matches and can stay up to date on statistics and live updates during the games. 
 
                                       1          2        OT1    OT2       F
No. 18 Cal                   1          0          0          0          1
No. 13 Stanford          0          1          0          0          1

Scoring Summary
Cal – 6:00 Carrera-Garcia, Jose (Oldham, Max and Hallisey, Connor)
Stan – 75:33 Batteer, Zach (unassisted)

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