DURHAM, N.C. – For the second straight season, the California men's soccer team defeated Duke 2-0 in the ACC Championship at Koskinen Stadium, with this year's victory taking place in the conference tournament's first round Wednesday night. Alfredo Ortiz and Luka Lukic scored to power the Golden Bears to the victory and set up a quarterfinal match against Pitt in Berkeley.
 
Twelfth-seeded Cal – which beat Duke in the ACC quarterfinals last season – improved its record to 7-7-2. The fifth-seeded Blue Devils ended their ACC tournament run with an 8-3-6 record.
 
The Bears will next host the 13th-seeded Panthers – who upset fourth-seeded Clemson 1-0 in the first round on Wednesday – in the ACC quarterfinals on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT at Edwards Stadium.
 
"It was a team win, from the guys who started to the guys who came in off the bench and the guys who didn't even step on the field," Cal head coach Leonard Griffin said. "We felt energy and the will to win from everyone. I'm very excited for the group, and it feels great to know we're not done. We knew this was a special group from day one, and we're excited we get to keep it moving forward."
 
At the 36:48 mark, Cal midfielder Noe Morales was a few yards outside the top of the Duke penalty area when he passed the ball to his left. A Blue Devil player deflected the pass into open space in the corner of the box. Ortiz ran onto the ball and slotted it inside the near post to beat goalkeeper Eryk Dymora. The goal was the senior defender's third of the season, and it gave the Bears a 1-0 lead. The goal was the eventual game winner for Ortiz, who also scored the game-winning goal in the ACC first round last season in a 2-1 victory at No. 14 North Carolina.
 
"Alfredo plays both sides of the ball equally well," Griffin said. "He's hard to get around with his speed, agility and athleticism. He brings those things along with his technical ability, quickness, fantastic services and finishing ability to the attacking side. When you have all those tools you're a big asset to any team."
 
The teams were even on shots at 5-5 in the first half, but neither took another shot after the goal, and Cal took its lead into halftime. Cal goalkeeper Connor Lambe made two saves early in the first half.
 
The second half featured back-and-forth action that culminated in Lukic getting fouled in the Duke box at 80:27. The forward took the resulting penalty kick and easily netted his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
 
"It's no secret we've looked for someone to step up and score goals," Griffin said. "Luka has eight goals now, and that's the most we've had from one player in recent years. That's what he's called on to do, and he also brings a sense of leadership that's awesome for our group. It was exciting to see him step up, get the foul and score the goal for us."
 
At 82:56, Duke's Jose Ortega was shown a red card after he fouled Cal's Giancarlo Mota, and the Bears played the rest of the game with a player advantage.
 
Cal goalkeeper Marco Brougher, who played the entire second half, made three saves including a stop on Duke's last shot of the game – a Drew Kerr blast at 88:20 – to preserve the shutout.
 
"We've learned from all of our matches and our guys have done a tremendous job of applying information from the staff and executing," Griffin added. "We're clicking at the right time."
 
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