BERKELEY, Calif. – California (5-3-1, 0-1-1 Pac-12) earned a 2-2 draw with No. 16 Oregon State (7-3-1, 2-0-1 Pac-12) in Berkeley on Friday night. Cal took a 2-1 lead just before halftime on a pair of goals from freshmen, but Beavers' sophomore forward Jordan Jones leveled the match in the 61st minute to help secure the draw for the visitors. Cal forward Spencer Held tallied his first collegiate goal in the 35th minute of play and fellow freshman forward Samuel Ebstein scored another just eight minutes later. The two sides fought through two 10-minute overtime periods scoreless, as both teams picked up their first draw of the 2015 campaign, despite Cal outshooting the Beavers 19-11.

Both sides created a couple of early opportunities, but it was Oregon State who broke through in the 22nd minute of play. Freshman forward Don Tchilao played the ball into the feet of Beavers’ forward Jaime Velasco, who took a quick touch to set up a shot from the top of the area. His effort from about 20 yards out beat Cal goalkeeper Alex Mangels to push the Beavers in front, 1-0.

The Bears equalized in the 35th minute on Held’s first collegiate goal. Sophomore forward Paul Salcedo flicked a ball on to Ebstein, who played a firm, low cross to Held at the back post for the easy finish past a helpless Nolan Wirth. Held had just come on as a substitute moments earlier, making an immediate impact.

“On my goal, Sam got the ball and dribbled towards the line,” Held said of his first career goal. “He crossed it back to me and I was able to get the finish and first-timed it into the net. It feels so relieving to get my first college goal; this is the best feeling ever.”

Cal struck again just eight minutes later. Freshman midfielder Shinya Kadono crossed the ball in to redshirt sophomore midfielder Tommy Padia. He slid a pass over to Ebstein after a slight deflection for the quick first-time finish for his second goal of the season to provide the Bears with a 2-1 just before halftime.

Despite Cal controlling a good portion of the play in the second half and overtimes, it was the Beavers to get on the scoreboard yet again. Jones picked the pocket of a Golden Bears’ defender and went in alone on goal, beating Mangels on the breakaway to tie things at 2-2 in the 61st minute.

In the 65th, the Bears appeared to be poised to wrestle the lead back, when a fortuitous bounce sent junior forward Christian Thierjung in on goal one-on-one. Wirth came up huge for Oregon State, closing out the angle quickly and coming up with the massive save on Thierjung’s effort.

California threatened again in the 71st minute when Salcedo stepped up to a free kick from about 25 yards away from goal. His initial shot was blocked by the Beavers’ wall, but the rebound was cracked on target by the Inglewood, California, native as he beat Wirth, but rattled the crossbar.

Redshirt sophomore Jose Carrera-Garcia, the team’s point leader coming in to play, nearly stole the show with some late-match heroics in the dying moments of the second overtime period. A ball played in by redshirt sophomore forward Matt Chasman found Carrera-Garcia’s chest, and his attempted overhead kick went just over the bar and things finished 2-2 at the final whistle.

California finishes the weekend by hosting No. 17 Washington on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 3 p.m. at Edwards Stadium. Prior to kickoff, the Bears will be honoring the memory of the late Eloi Vasquez with a special jersey retirement ceremony 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 games.

Scoring Summary
OSU –   21:50  Velasco, Jaime (Tchilao, Don)
Cal   –   34:59  Held, Spencer (Ebstein, Samuel and Salcedo, Paul)
Cal   –   42:03  Ebstein, Samuel (Kadono, Shinya and Padia, Tommy)
OSU –   60:01  Jones, Jordan (unassisted)  

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