BERKELEY, Calif. – California (5-3-2, 0-1-2 Pac-12) and No. 17 Washington (5-2-5, 1-1-2 Pac-12) played to a scoreless draw in Berkeley on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 1,219 at Edwards Stadium. The day also carried a lot of heavy emotions, as the Bears honored the late Eloi Vasquez in a special pregame ceremony, where the #20 jersey of Vasquez was retired; becoming the first jersey retirement in Cal soccer’s 109-year history. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Alex Mangels posted three saves and recorded his fifth career shutout in the draw. Were it not for a spectacular save by Washington goalkeeper Ryan Herman in the 107^th minute on a Nick Lima blast, Cal would have left the pitch as the winner.

“We have to continue to look at the performance of the team,” head coach Kevin Grimes said on Sunday afternoon. “In both games it was quite good and we were very strong today from minute one to minute 110. That’s a great step forward for the group and although the results may not be exactly what we wanted, the performance was really close to exactly what we are looking for. We look forward to building on this performance as we head into next weekend.”

The Golden Bears threatened early in the first half, and nearly seized the lead in the 12^th minute of play. Cal moved the ball quickly and effectively on the counter attack, as redshirt sophomore midfielder Jose Carrera-Garcia found sophomore forward Paul Salcedo, whose deft flick sent junior forward Christian Thierjung in on goal from about midfield. Herman was up to the task; making a huge one-on-one save on Thierjung’s close-range effort. The rebound fell to Salcedo, but his shot from inside the area went just high.

Washington had the next quality chance, when sophomore midfielder Henry Wingo played in a corner kick that picked out freshman defender Quentin Pearson perfectly. His snap-header was on target, but redshirt senior goalkeeper Alex Mangels made the big save to deflect the header over the bar to safety.

“I think today was a great all-around effort,” Mangels said following the match. “We defended well and definitely showed the fight that we have. Even though it is another draw, I do think it was better effort today than Friday. (Shutouts) are always the goal; as long as you can keep them out of your net, you’ve got a chance to win. That is always the objective whenever I go out there, so I am pleased that we were able to keep the clean sheet today.”

In the 22^nd minute, Cal seemed poised again to fire the opening salvo. Salcedo was played in on goal, but again, it was Herman who stood tall, making the huge save, yet again. Herman finished the afternoon with five saves for the Huskies.

The Bears caused Washington’s defense some problems at the start of the second half, but couldn’t quite break through and solve Herman. Carrera-Garcia found himself in some space from about 25-yards out and let fly; however his shot was kept out with a slight touch by Herman and it went out for a Golden Bears’ corner.

The visiting Huskies looked for a goal of their own in the 67^th minute, and appeared to have a quality chance after a through ball found senior forward Josh Heard in behind the California defense. Fortunately for the Bears, a quick recovery and measured sliding challenge by redshirt freshman defender Jorge Miranda stopped the threat in its tracks, denying a shooting opportunity.

Neither team was able to muster much in the way of chances in the two overtime periods, short of a 107^th minute opportunity for the home side. Lima appeared to have found the answer to Herman’s riddle, when off of a set piece, the junior defender received the ball at the top of the area. A couple of quick touches set him up from about 20-yards out and he fired through traffic in front. The ball appeared destined for the bottom corner of the far post, but Herman, thanks to all 6-7 of his tall frame, he dove across the face of goal to get another slight touch to push Lima’s shot out of danger for yet another Cal corner.

The Bears finished the weekend with a pair of draws against two top-20 opponents and now
 head to Southern California next week for a pair of conference road tilts, beginning with San Diego State on Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. and finishing at UCLA on Monday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. Monday’s match will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks. 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.

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