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4th seed Cal 14-4-2, 6-3-1 Pac-12 vs. 5th seed Maryland 15-3-5, 7-1-3 ACC
When: Saturday, December 7th, 1:30 PM PT
Where: Goldman Field at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, CA
(Free) Online stream: Pac-12 Digital (a link has emerged on CalBears.com, Pac-12 Networks apparently only have one soccer crew and have opted to broadcast the Washington-New Mexico match instead)
Game Update via Twitter: @CalMensSoccer
NCAA Tournament Bracket: NCAA.com
Read my match preview here.
Bears have already beat the Terps once this year in Berkeley, but it took overtime for Alec Sundly to score the Golden Goal and give the Bears a 3-2 win. On the line today is a trip to the College Cup (this year it's taking place at PPL Park near Philadelphia, PA). The Bears have been this close to the College Cup before, as recently as 2010 when they fell to then overall top seed Akron at Akron in penalty kicks (with a very grainy and low resolution feed...though I'm not really expecting much better feed for today's match); this year, however, the Bears get the chance to clinch a College Cup berth (for the first time in program history) at home.
The Terps are a very good team and fairly experienced (they made it to the College Cup just last year) despite playing a freshman goalie in Zack Steffen. The Cal goalie Alex Mangles, who is a sophomore, actually has less experience given that he only claimed the starter role very late in the season. Terps do bring a top scoring offense with them, but also have allowed more goals than the Bears.
It should be an evenly contest match that either side can prevail. Both sides also have numbers of MLS prospects leading with the MAC Hermann Trophy contenders in Cal's Steve Birnbaum and Maryland's Patrick Mullens (winner of the award last year).
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NCAA QUARTERFINAL
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| Maryland | California | |
| ACC | Conference | Pac-12 |
| 15-3-5 | Record | 14-4-2 |
| 5-0-0 | Last 5 Games | 3-2-0 |
| 48/27 | Goals For/Against | 37/19 |
| 33 (49-27-6) | NCAA App. (Record) | 17 (13-15-1) |
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Series Maryland Leads 3-2 |
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Top Scorers (G/A/Pts): Maryland: Patrick Mullins (16/8/40) Cal: Steve Birnbaum (10/1/21) |
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| Game Notes | Additional Info | Game Notes |
| Schedule | Schedule | |
| Roster | Roster | |
| Statistics | Statistics | |
Up Next?: 8th seed Virginia was able to beat the unseeded Connecticut (who took out top overall seed UCLA) 2-1 yesterday to book the first spot in the College Cup. Winner of today's match will face Virginia in the semifinal at the College Cup on Friday.
GO BEARS!
