BERKELEY – For the second straight season, the California men's soccer team upset a top-ranked and fellow ACC team, with the Golden Bears stunning No. 1 Stanford 1-0 in the regular-season finale on Friday evening at Edwards Stadium. Junhwan Park scored a goal for the third straight game to hand the Bears the win, which marked Cal's first home victory of the season. Cal's win also prevented Stanford from capturing the ACC regular-season title – the Cardinal finished second in the conference – and snapped Stanford's 10-game unbeaten streak as well as its five-match shutout streak.
 
The result also gave Cal a two-game winning streak over the Cardinal, including a 1-0 victory over then-No. 22 Stanford last fall on The Farm.
 
"It was super intense," Cal head coach Leonard Griffin said. "It's always a dog fight against Stanford. They're a tough team to beat when it turns into that. But – and I've said it before – this result is a testament to the character of this group and their absolute belief in one another and their belief in what they can accomplish. We've had some ups and downs and it's been a rough road this season, but they put their hearts and they put everything into this game, and we're reaping the benefits with the result."
 
The Bears – who shocked No. 1 Pitt 1-0 on the road last season – improved to 6-7-2 (2-6-1 ACC) with Friday's result. Stanford's record is now 12-2-2 (5-2-1).
 
The scoring play began when senior midfielder Gaku Nishimura served a ball into the Cardinal box in the 33rd minute. A Stanford player then headed the ball away from a Bear and towards the back post. Park pounced on the ball to slot it past goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly. The goal continued a remarkable run by the sophomore midfielder, a transfer from San Francisco who tallied his first points as a Bear just two games ago with a goal and an assist in a 6-1 rout at Radford on Oct. 22. He scored his second goal in a 3-2 setback in the next game at Virginia Tech last Sunday. Park also earned a penalty kick that was scored by Malcolm Zalayet against the Hokies.
 
There was more work to do after the goal, with Stanford outshooting Cal 7-1 in the first half. The two Cal goalkeepers who played Friday combined to keep a clean sheet, with Connor Lambe making four saves in the first half including the stop of a Liam Doyle shot in the 45th minute. Marco Brougher started the second half and also faced seven shots, with the veteran also making four saves including two on shots by Stanford star Zach Bohane.
 
Brougher was one of 11 Bears lauded during the team's Senior Day ceremony prior to the match. Along with Brougher the 11 included defender Sintayehu Clements, goalkeeper Thomas Grimes, midfielder Adrian Jacobs, midfielder Allan Juarez, forward Luka Lukic, midfielder Rohan McEligot, defender Alfredo Ortiz, midfielder Gaku Nishimura, defender Cameron Robie and midfielder Cam Wilkerson.
 
Griffin said the Bears were not daunted by Stanford's ranking nor of the rankings of other recent opponents, as evidenced last season by their win at Pitt as well as their win at No. 2 Duke in the ACC Championship quarterfinals.
 
"I've said it before, you come to Cal to play Stanford, and you come to Cal to beat Stanford," he added. "And now we're trying to ride this momentum going into the conference tournament."
 
Cal next competes in the ACC Championship on Wednesday at 4 p.m. PT in Durham, North Carolina, where the 12th-seeded Bears will face fifth-seeded Duke.
 
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