Thierjung Brace Leads Past USF, 3-1

September 20, 2015

BERKELEY, Calif. – California (5-1-0) won its fifth consecutive match, knocking off the San Francisco Dons (2-6-0) 3-1 on a hot, Sunday afternoon at Goldman Field at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley. Junior forward Christian Thierjungtallied a brace, scoring inside of three and a half minutes in the second half to help push the Bears to another non-conference victory. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Jose Carrera-Garcia scored the opener and also added an assist on Thierjung’s first goal. Carrera-Garcia finished the weekend with a goal and four assists, while Thierjung had three goals on the weekend.

“Today was another great test for our players against an excellent USF team,” head coachKevin Grimes said on Sunday afternoon. “We had to stay concentrated and focused for the entire 90 minutes, which we did. Our guys responded extremely well in the second half, getting two goals back and that is a great sign moving forward into next week.”

Cal nearly grabbed an early lead in the eighth minute, when junior forward Christian Thierjung played a ball over the top to sophomore forward Paul Salcedo. His touch took him into the penalty area and his shot took a slight deflection that carried it just over the bar.

Just five minutes later, the Bears did take the advantage, when Carrera-Garcia scored a highlight-worthy goal from a set piece. After the foul set up the Ontario, California, native from about 20-yards out, he dipped his shot over the wall and curled it into the near post past a helpless Andre Glasnovic.

The Bears nearly doubled their advantage just five minutes into the second half with a frenetic 15 seconds that saw three quick shots by Cal. Carrera-Garcia played Salcedo in on the right side, and his tough-angle shot was saved very well by the foot of Glasnovic. The rebound fell to freshman forward Samuel Ebstein, and his first time effort rattled the crossbar, but stayed out. That then fell to Carrera-Garcia, but his shot went inches high over the bar.

After another couple of quality chances for the Bears, it was San Francisco, who leveled things at 1-1. A loose ball found its way to senior midfielder Jesus Del Toro inside the penalty area, and he slid his effort into the near post side of the goal from very close range.

The Dons’ excitement was short-lived, however, as Cal responded very swiftly with a pair of goals, both from Thierjung just moments later. In the 63rd minute, Carrera-Garcia played a through ball to redshirt sophomore Trevor Long towards the endline. Long’s low cross was played to a streaking Thierjung, who side-footed his shot into the far post to put the Bears back on top, 2-1. That marked Long’s first career collegiate point.

Cal added a third through the Dove Canyon, California, native on an impressive counter attack. The ball was won by junior defender Nick Lima and played to redshirt sophomore Matt Chasman who made a long run with pace down the wing. His inch-perfect cross found Thierjung at the back post, and his first-time volley made it 3-1.

“There was great buildup on both of my goals today,” Thierjung said following the win. “On the first one, Trevor Long received a through ball and was able to find me at the top of the box where I was able to slot it home. On my second, (Matt) Chasman was slipped a through ball and knew where to find me at the back post. We just have great chemistry both on and off the field, which is a huge plus. I believe in this team and we are up to any challenge. We always had the belief that we were going to win this game and we were able to pull it off today.”

Cal played good possession soccer to help close the match out, holding on to the 3-1 win, and improving to 5-0-0 at home thus far in 2015.

California will head to Santa Clara to battle the Broncos on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium in its final non-conference match of the season. 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.