SEATTLE – California men's soccer erased 1-0 and 2-1 deficits and finally took a late lead on a 79th-minute Alonzo Del Mundo goal to upset No. 1 Washington, 3-2, at Husky Soccer Stadium. With the victory, Kevin Grimes became Cal's all-time winningest head coach in men's soccer with 203 wins, breaking the tie of 202 he held with the late Bob DiGrazia.

 

Cal improved its record to 7-5-3 (3-3-2 in the Pac-12) after handing Washington (14-2-0, 7-1-0 Pac-12) its first home loss and its first conference loss of the season and snapping the Huskies’ 10-game winning streak. The win was also Cal’s first over a No. 1 team since it upset No. 1 UCLA, 1-0, on Nov. 2, 2014, in Los Angeles.

 

“It was a historic win tonight for a number of reasons,” Grimes said. “First and foremost, it was a great performance by the players and the coaching staff to beat the No. 1 team in the country on their field. The players were so committed and so dialed into this game. I’m so proud of their effort tonight – they were brilliant, especially in the second half.”

 

For Grimes, now in his 20th season as Cal’s head coach, this marked his second milestone of the season, including the 200th win of his career in a 1-0 victory over San Francisco.

 

“A few weeks ago when the 200th win was accomplished, what I thought about was my past players and assistant coaches over the past 20 years,” he said. “But with tonight’s win I think more about Bob DiGrazia and everything Bob was to Cal soccer. Without Bob there is no Cal soccer. Bob was so welcoming to my wife and me 20 years ago to the Bay Area and to the Cal soccer family, that I’m indebted to his legacy here at Cal.”

 

DiGrazia – a Cal Athletics Hall of Famer – coached Cal between 1952-80. He passed away in 2006.

 

On Thursday, Washington outshot Cal, 24-9 though Cal goalkeepers Noah Texter, who got the start, and Drake Callender, who played the second half, combined to make seven saves to just one for the Huskies’ Sam Fowler. Texter made five saves in the first 45 minutes alone, when the Huskies outshot Cal, 17-5.

 

After a 25th-minute goal by Gio Miglietti gave UW a 1-0 lead, Cal equalized in the 39th minute on a goal from Washington native Simon Lekressner. Del Mundo started the sequence with a corner kick that reached Francisco Perez in the UW box. The midfielder crossed the ball back across the goalmouth to Lekressner, and the senior defender slotted it past Fowler for his fifth goal of the year.

 

A 39th-minute goal by Blake Bodily gave Washington a 2-1 lead it eventually took into halftime.

 

The Bears were fired up to start the second half.

 

“We just talked to ourselves about belief,” Del Mundo said of their halftime talk. “We talked not about ‘Let’s come back and tie it, but ‘Let’s come back and win it.’”

 

Cal produced their second equalizer of the night in the 63rd minute thanks to Tommy Williamson’s team-high eighth goal of the season.

 

“At that point we were playing really good soccer,” said Perez, who assisted on the goal. “Ian (Lonergan) found Tayler (Davila), and Taylor found me. I attacked the backline, and gaps between the defenders opened up. Tommy was making a great run. I slipped him the ball, he was one v. one with the goalkeeper and he put it away.”

 

Lekressner and Christian Gomez assisted on Del Mundo’s gamewinning goal – his second of the season – at 78:08.

 

“My goal was all about effort,” he said. “I sprinted my butt off, and it was a tap in, but I did it for the team.”

 

Washington had a good chance to tie in the 89th minute, but Lucas Meek’s close-range shot slammed of the post and Callender corralled the ball to end the threat.

 

Cal next plays at Oregon State on Sunday at 1 p.m. in another Pac-12 match-up.