The games are played in a stadium with no lights on Friday afternoon around 4PM while many people are getting out of work and while may CAL students finished up their studies and/or classes for the week. The other homes games are played on Sunday afternoons at 1-2PM when most people in (warm 80 degree weather) Northern California are doing other things. Also, tradtiionally the South Bay Area (as opposed to the East Bay) is more of a soccer hotbed. When Santa Clara won their NCAA title in 1990 in the pre MLS days, I remember big crowds. There was around 1500 on Stanford's home game vs CAL but it was on a Saturday night. About 75-100 fans was mostly our family rooting for cousin Anthony....
Soccer America Men's Top 25 November 2nd, 2010 5:34PM [COLLEGE] Akron remained No. 1 in the Soccer America Men's Top 25 ahead of North Carolina, Maryland and Louisville. SMU and Butler moved up to 5-6. For the complete Top 25 rankings ... Follow all the men's college action with Soccer America at: http://twitter.com/sacollegemen Subscribe for free to the College Soccer Reporter: http://www.socceramerica.com/join/ Soccer America Men's Top 25 (Nov. 2 rankings) TEAM (RECORD) LAST WEEK 1. Akron (14-1-1) 1 2. North Carolina (13-2-1) 2 3. Maryland (12-2-1) 3 4. Louisville (14-0-2) 4 5. SMU (14-1-0) 7 6. Butler (15-0-1) 9 7. UC Irvine (13-1-3) 8 8. California (11-2-3) 11 9. Connecticut (11-2-4) 6 10. Virginia (9-3-3) 5 11. UCLA (11-4-1) 15 12. Notre Dame (9-4-4) NR 13. Creighton (11-3-1) 10 14. Monmouth (12-1-2) 17 15. Indiana (9-5-2) 12 16. UC Santa Barbara (10-4-3) 13 17. Penn State (10-5-1) 18. William & Mary (12-2-2) 19 19. Florida Gulf Coast (13-3-2) 23 20. Georgetown (11-5-1) 21 21. Duke (8-4-4) NR 22. Pennsylvania (12-3-0) 20 23. Boston College (8-3-5) 14 24. Michigan (10-4-3) NR 25. Princeton (10-3-1) NR 25. Brown (10-2-3) NR 25. St. Mary's (9-5-1) NR (Records are for games played through Nov. 1.) Note: The Soccer America Men's Top 25 will appear in the College Reporter each Tuesday during the regular season.
This is precisely the problem with the Cal schedule. I have seen this team play once, and they are a really solid team and fun to watch. But it was a Friday afternoon at 4PM. Nobody from the community is coming to a game on Friday at 4. Parents aren't even home from work to bring their kids (who in some cases have just gotten home from school). And Sunday at 2 isn't an ideal time either. Smack dab in the middle of the day. Either earlier or later in the day would be more appealing so people could do stuff before or after without breaking up the entire day. That said, crowds likely wouldn't be huge with better scheduling, but they'd probably improve.
They would improve if they had a certain set time year in and year out. Playing in a smaller lighted field, would also improve crowds. Edwards stadium is like 80 years old... Soccer America Men's Top 25 November 9th, 2010 4:38PM [COLLEGE] Top-ranked Akron holds its position in the Soccer America Men's Top 25 rankings, as do North Carolina, Maryland, Louisville, SMU and Butler at 2-6. California and Connecticut move up one spot to 7-8. For the complete Top 25 rankings ... Follow all the men's college action with Soccer America at: http://twitter.com/sacollegemen Subscribe for free to the College Soccer Reporter: http://www.socceramerica.com/join/ Soccer America Men's Top 25 (Nov. 9 rankings) TEAM (RECORD) LAST WEEK 1. Akron (16-1-1) 1 2. North Carolina (14-2-1) 2 3. Maryland (14-2-1) 3 4. Louisville (15-0-2) 4 5. SMU (15-1-0) 5 6. Butler (15-0-2) 6 7. California (11-2-3) 8 8. Connecticut (12-2-4) 9 9. UC Irvine (14-2-3) 7 10. UCLA (13-4-1) 11 11. Notre Dame (10-4-4) 12 12. UC Santa Barbara (11-4-3) 16 13. Virginia (10-4-3) 10 14. William & Mary (13-3-2) 18 15. Monmouth (12-1-4) 14 16. Boston College (9-3-5) 23 17. Princeton (12-3-1) 25 18. Creighton (12-4-1) 13 19. Florida Gulf Coast (13-3-2) 19 20. Duke (9-4-4) 21 21. Ohio State (10-5-2) NR 22. Michigan (11-4-3) 24 23. Brown (11-2-3) 25 24. Indiana (9-6-2) 15 25. Providence (11-5-2) NR 25. Charlotte (13-5-0) NR 25. UCF (11-3-3) NR (Records are for games played through Nov. 7.) Note: The Soccer America Men's Top 25 will appear in the College Reporter each Tuesday during the regular season.
In front of 2,415 fans, CAL wins the PAC 10. Cal Claims Pac-10 Title by Beating Stanford, 3-2 3-time champions http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-soccer/recaps/111110aaa.html Game Summary Scoring Summary Cal - Alec Sundly (Davis Paul) 33:21 Stanford - Adam Jahn 37:38 Cal - Servando Carrasco (Davis Paul) 73:38 Cal - Alec Sundly (Davis Paul, Anthony Avalos) 82:38 Stanford - Cameron Lamming (Ryan Thomas, Bobby Warshaw) Goals by Period 1 2 F Stanford 1 1 2 California 1 2 3 Shots by Period 1 2 F Stanford 8 8 16 California 6 9 15 Att.: 2,415
Just how big is your family? Seriously, this is good to see, especially for a dramatic win. With the likelihood of Cal hosting a couple tournament games, I hope a bunch of this support comes back.
Congrats to Cal and Falvo's family. Great crowd. Nice to see. Someone give me a lowdown on this Davis Paul kid. He seems to be involved in almost all of Cal's scoring. Is he a good player having a good run or is he someone who can do this at the next level?
Congrats to Cal and all the Cal fans and families on a great season and rebound from 2009. Thrilled for former Irvine Striker and teammate Alec Sundly on a heck of a coming out party yesterday vs. Stanford! According to my sources, at the Senior Day reception after the game, Alec received a well deserved 'standing O" from all his teammates and attending families.
They don't have lights in Berkeley? Seems to me that a Pac-10 school should be able to scrounge up the money for lights (they could even put it under the women's soccer/field hockey/lacrosse/some other sport that plays on the field budget so they can funnel more money into football). This is precisely the sort of thing that holds college soccer back - a great team that can't play at a time when people are able to consistantly show up to watch. A program like Cal should be able to draw 1500 or so average pretty easily, with 4k or so for a game against the tree. On a more positive note, congratulations on the NCAA berth and the 2k+ attendance for the last game. The more in the stands, the merrier! And beating $tanfurd...I know Bear fans get a kick out of doing that.
They almost cancelled the program and baseball got the boot. Not sure it is that simple to get lights.
I realize it isn't a matter of tapping your shoes and saying there's no place like home, but it's something that needs to be done. Berkeley has lots of money - the problem is that it is almost all funneled into 2 programs, men's basketball and football, or sprinkled on the women's side for Title IX purposes to offset the football/basketball spending. Doing a little research, it looks like men's soccer shares Edwards with track and field and the women's team. It looks like a decent enough place to play (only drawback is the track, but there's not much that can be done about that), plenty of room in the stands (22k), with the only real problem being the lack of lights. The facilities page also claims that lights will be installed in the near future, but with no timeframe, that could mean anything. Between the soccer teams and track and field, I've got to think there are a few rich alums that would give to improve their facility if asked. Hopefully it's sooner than later, because soccer games are infinitely better with fans watching - and lights should help that.
The stadium is kind of cool looking but its almost 80 years old. Sooner or later, it needs upgrading. I hear now that now that baseball is going to be dropped, they may use their stadium and convert into a soccer complex. Who knows...
Soccer America Men's Top 25 November 15th, 2010 5:08AM [RANKINGS] Akron, No. 1 in the Soccer America Men's Top 25 preseason rankings, remained the top-ranked team throughout the 11-week season. Maryland and Louisville moved up one spot each to 2-3 in the final rankings of the 2010 season. North Carolina finished at No. 4, while Butler moved up to No. 5. For the complete Top 25 rankings ... Follow all the men's college action with Soccer America at: http://twitter.com/sacollegemen Subscribe for free to the College Soccer Reporter: http://www.socceramerica.com/join/ Soccer America Men's Top 25 (Nov. 15 rankings) TEAM (RECORD) LAST WEEK 1. Akron (18-1-1) 1 2. Maryland (17-2-1) 3 3. Louisville (16-0-3) 4 4. North Carolina (16-3-1) 2 5. Butler (16-0-3) 6 6. California (12-2-3) 7 7. UCLA (14-4-1) 10 8. UC Santa Barbara (13-4-3) 12 9. SMU (15-2-0) 5 10. Michigan (14-4-3) 22 11. Connecticut (12-2-5) 8 12. Notre Dame (10-5-4) 11 13. William & Mary (15-3-2) 14 14. Monmouth (14-1-4) 15 15. Boston College (10-4-5) 16 16. Princeton (13-3-1) 17 17. UC Irvine (14-3-3) 9 18. Virginia (11-5-3) 13 19. Providence (12-5-3) 25 20. Florida Gulf Coast (13-3-2) 19 21. Ohio State (10-5-3) 21 22. South Carolina (12-6-2) NR 23. Creighton (12-5-1) 18 24. Duke (9-5-4) 20 25. Penn State (13-7-1) NR (Records are for games played through Nov. 14.)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournament November 15th, 2010 4:41PM [DRAW] Unbeaten Louisville is the No. 1 seed in the 48-team field for the NCAA Division I Men's Tournament, which begins Thursday. Maryland, Akron, North Carolina and SMU follow at 2-5. For the complete draw ... Defending champion Virginia was unseeded but is making its 30th-consecutive NCAA appearance -- the longest active streak in the nation. The Big East led all conferences with seven teams in the tournament field, while the ACC and Big Ten had five each. The Ivy League and Conference USA have four teams among the 48, while the MPSF has the most of any West Coast conference with three teams. Third-year program East Tennessee State and Xavier are the only teams making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Soccer America's projections were correct on 45 of the 48 selections. The NCAA men's committee picked Denver, USF and New Mexico over Boston University, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Washington. Note: Teams in bold have first-round bye. FIRST ROUND Nov. 18 #1 Louisville Coll. of Charleston vs. East Tennessee State, 7 pm ET #16 Ohio State Providence vs. St. Peter's, 1 pm ET #9 Notre Dame Monmouth vs. Dartmouth, noon ET #8 UCLA Sacramento State vs. Santa Clara, 4 pm ET -------------------------------------------------------------- #5 SMUCreighton vs. New Mexico, 8 pm ET #12 William & Mary Princeton vs. UMBC, 1 pm ET #13 Butler Michigan State vs. Oakland, 1 pm ET #4 North Carolina Georgetown vs. UNC Greensboro, 1 pm ET -------------------------------------------------------------- #3 Akron West Virginia vs. Xavier, 7 pm ET #14 Indiana Tulsa vs. Bradley, 1 pm ET #11 Connecticut Brown vs. Boston College, 7 pm ET #6 California UC Santa Barbara vs. Denver, 10 pm ET -------------------------------------------------------------- #7 South Carolina Duke vs. Coastal Carolina, 7 pm ET #10 Michigan UCF vs. USF, 5 PM ET #15 Penn State Virginia vs. Old Dominion, 7 pm ET #2 Maryland Penn State vs. Bucknell, 7 pm ET
Well when there aren't many fans and/or posters reporting , what can you do? There was only one person (soccerbro1) who posted last year and he got upset that the thread was startd and didn't like my posts. I found out later he was a former player who posed as an "avid CAL BEARS soccer fan". As you can see, he no longer posts and will not because he is now off the team and supposdly playing professionally. From what I found out he never plays. I'd encourage however,as many people as posible to post, but unfortunately, no one else does.
I don't have much insight, but I've seen the team play twice this season, against St. Mary's and against UCLA. Against St. Mary's they showed a lot of heart scoring with 4 seconds left in regulation to tie the game (though they eventually lost). I also liked what I saw against UCLA (though again they lost in overtime). I think they have a nice style of play generally and play with a lot of confidence, even from behind. I'm going to the UCSB game Sunday. Hopefully the trend of them losing games I go to in overtime will end.
I'll help Falvo out and start posting again. (Come stai, Falvo?) One thing that impresses about this Cal team is the senior leadership and how tight the entire team is. The way they play together and for each other reminds me of the SF Giants. They also seem to play well under pressure (see above, senior leadership/maturity) -- note the unusual number of OT wins and the last minute goals that sent more than one game into OT. The flip side of that is they allowed those games to get into OT in the first place. They had a streak of dominating wins in the Pac-10 this year. UCLA was the only Pac-10 team that, after all was said and done, could consistently hang with the Bears (but see above about the OT games). Cal has played better on the road this year than at home (which bodes well if they were required to travel to Akron for a quarterfinal game). Noticed that Van Buskirk did not play the last few games of the regular season; his last game was the huge away win in OT over UCLA. He went out at the 41 minute mark and did not return. Anyone know for sure that he is injured? I assume so but have not seen/heard anything definite. Otherwise, Cal has had a mostly injury-free year. (Knock-knock on the Stanfurd mascot...) UCSB will not be easy as they will be motivated by the intra UC thing, the loss the Bears handed to them in SB a couple of years ago in the tourney and most of all by the thought of reaching the Final Four on home ground; no doubt they will have a significant travel contingent of fans. I am wondering if injuries/conditioning will be a factor after UCSB's 115 minute game tonight, with several guys going out with injuries (and one not coming back -- Tetteh). Rain and wind will definitely be a factor-- whichever team handles it better will have a big advantage. Bring your umbrellas and raincoats on Sunday-- there are no overhangs/roofs except at the very top in the "luxury boxes". Anyone know how well Goldman drains in a torrential downpour? P.S.: If the Athletics Department has any sense at all, they will promote the bejeezus out of Sunday's game at the Big Game on Saturday....
ciao cris! io sto bene grazie! purtroppo e' mancato mio zio, il nonno di anthony l'altro ieri e siamo tutti tristi... Anyway, forward John Fitzpatrick (#12) really impresses me. He came in when they payed at Stanford and played fairly well. He is 6 ft 1inches and with what it seems are long lanky legs seemed to make up many yards and held the ball . What I like most was his movement off the ball which mark a sign of a trus withdrawn forward. The game I saw against UCLA however, for some reason Kevin Grimes pulled him questioning his speed and/or leadership. He seems to do well but in the end he is only a sophomore so I think he will only get better in a few more years. As far as the rain is concerned, Northern Californina weather notwithstanding, it seems that each time I attend a CAL game, it rains also. We will take our umbrellas. NCAA Division I Men's Tournament Scoreboard November 17th, 2010 9:42PM [COLLEGE] Defending champion Virginia fell to visiting Old Dominion, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Tournament. Other teams to win on the road were Dartmouth and UMBC. In the day's only overtime games, UC Santa Barbara edged Denver, 1-0, on Waid Ibrahim's golden goal, and Penn beat Bucknell by the same score on Christian Barreiro's goal. For all the action ... FIRST ROUND Nov. 18 Providence 6 St. Peter's 2. Att.: 1,208. PC -- Matt Marcin 9 (Michael Pereira) 19 PC -- Wilder Arboleda 4 (unassisted) 26 PC -- Toussaint McClure 1 (George Hodge) 37 PC -- Wilder Arboleda 5 (Matt Marcin) 54 SPC -- Lebogang Pila 8 (pen.) 62 PC -- Matt Marcin 10 (Daniel Fabian) 73 PC -- Brian Grisell 2 (Daniel Fabian) 75 SPC -- Kevin Olson 2 (Lebogang Pila) 80 Monmouth 0 Dartmouth 4. Att.: 1,470. DART -- Andrew Olsen 4 (Daniel Keat) 9 DART -- Nick Pappas 2 (Andrew Olsen) 53 DART -- Lucky Mkosana 7 (Daniel Keat) 66 DART -- Aaron Gaide 3 (Daniel Keat) 80 Michigan State 2 Oakland 0. Att.: 552. MSU -- Domenic Barone 9 (pen.) 49 MSU -- Domenic Barone 10 (Brent Rosendall) 63 Georgetown 3 UNC Greensboro 0. Att.: 385. GU -- Ian Christianson 5 (Jose Colchao) 9 GU -- Andy Riemer 3 (Seth C'Debaca) 21 GU -- Chandler Diggs 4 ((Jose Colchao) 83 Sacramento State 2 Santa Clara 1. Att.: 788. SAC -- Ernesto Carranza (unassisted) 56 SCU -- Eric Masch (unassisted) 59 SAC -- Chris Bettencourt (Max Alvarez) 86 UCF 3 South Florida 0. Att.: 529. UCF -- Ben Hunt 2 (Cameron Cooksey) 35 UCF -- Nic Keown-Robson 10 (pen.) 45 UCF -- Yaron Bacher 2 (unassisted) 65 Virginia 0 Old Dominion 1 Att.: 923. ODU -- Alex Vaughan 4 (Chris Harmon) 63 College of Charleston 3 East Tenn. State 2. Att.: 2,024. CC -- Shawn Ferguson 3 (Ralph Lundy) 24 CC -- Andy Craven 4 (unassisted) 29 CC -- Francis Twohig 6 (Tony Kattreh) 39 ETSU -- Aaron Schoenfeld 7 (pen.) 57 ETSU -- Jaron Westbrook 1 (Blaike Woodruff) 71 Princeton 1 UMBC 2. PRIN -- Antoine Hoppenot (unassisted) 32 UMBC -- Levi Houapeu (Andrew Bulls) 42 UMBC -- Andrew Bulls (Levi Houapeu) 79 West Virginia 4 Xavier 2. Att.: 513. XU -- James Queree 1 (Luke Spencer, James Getzen) 4 XU -- own goal 5 WVU -- Franck Tayou 7 (Moeryhan Doue) 24 WVU -- Franck Tayou 8 (Uwem Etuk) 33 WVU -- Franck Tayou 9 (Abel Sebele) 50 WVU -- Uwem Etuk 2 (Alex Silva) 82 Brown 2 Boston College 1. Att.: 981. BU -- Jon Okafor (Taylor Gorman) 11 BC -- Kyle Bekker (unassisted) 41 BU -- Austin Mandel (Thomas McNamara, Taylor Gorman) 43 Duke 2 Coastal Carolina 1. Att.: 1,006. CC -- Ross Kelly 4 (K. Sandtroen) 23 DU -- Cole Grossman 9 (unassisted) 77 DU -- Cole Grossman 10 (Jonathan Aguirre) 83 Penn 1 Bucknell 0 (OT). PENN -- Christian Barreiro 5 (Zach Barnett, Jason Gorskie) 92 Creighton 4 New Mexico 1. Att.: 1,074. CU -- Jose Gomez 5 (unassisted) 4 CU -- Tyler Polak 2 (Jose Gomez) 31 CU -- Ethan Finlay 13 (Greg Jordan) 37 NM -- Devon Sandoval 3 (Michael Green, Michael Reed) 71 CU -- Ethan Finlay (unassisted) 90 Tulsa 2 Bradley 0. Att.: 297. TLS -- Kyle Cummings 2 (Jake Dobkin) 17 TLS -- Ashley McInnes 11 (Blaine Gonsalves) 78 UC Santa Barbara 1 Denver 0 (OT). Att.: 3,717. UCSB -- Waid Ibrahim 1 (Danny Barrera) 105 SECOND ROUND Nov. 21 #1 Louisville (17-0-3) vs. Coll. of Charleston (10-4-3) #16 Ohio State (10-5-3) vs. Providence (13-5-3) #9 Notre Dame (10-5-4) vs. Dartmouth (11-6-1) #8 UCLA (14-4-1) vs. Sacramento State (11-4-7) -------------------------------------------------------------- #5 SMU (15-2-0) vs. Creighton (13-5-1) #12 William & Mary (15-3-2) vs. UMBC (12-4-3) #13 Butler (16-0-3) vs. Michigan State (12-7-1) #4 North Carolina (16-3-1) vs. Georgetown (12-6-1) -------------------------------------------------------------- #3 Akron (18-1-1) vs. West Virginia (11-7-2) #14 Indiana (9-7-2) vs. Tulsa (12-6-2) #11 Connecticut (11-2-5) vs. Brown (12-3-3) #6 California (12-2-3) vs. UC Santa Barbara (14-4-3)-------------------------------------------------------------- #7 South Carolina (12-6-2) vs. Duke (10-5-4) #10 Michigan (14-4-3) vs. UCF (12-4-3) #15 Penn State (13-7-1) vs. Old Dominion #2 Maryland (17-2-1) vs. Penn (13-5-0)