No. 17 Pacific men's soccer (2-1-0) won a battle against No. 14 Cal (2-1-0) in what was the first match between two ranked teams in the history of Knoles Field.

 

The Tigers scored in the 21^st minute, but the Golden Bears fought back and equalized in the second half. Pacific scored in the 98^th minute thanks that well-taken corner kick from freshman Ryan Her that found the head of senior Camden Riley for Pacific's second win in overtime this year.

 

"I'm very pleased with the guys in their work and their application," head coach Ryan Jorden said. It thought we we're very good for the first half hour and then Cal got a foothold in the game. I didn't think we came out great after halftime, so I have to do a better job of making sure that we get things right. After they equalized, I thought we flipped back on and dictated the game more. That continued into overtime and that shows up with the result.

 

Pacific's senior, Alredo Alcala, opened the scoring for the Tigers in the 21^st on a goal that was set up by Freshman Jose Sosa and Bob Groenendijk. The Tigers took their lead into halftime, but Cal came out strong taking three shots and two corner kicks in the opening 15 minutes of the half. In the 68^th minute, Cal equalized with an absolute rocket of a goal off of the foot of Sam Ebstein.

 

Pacific and Cal remained tied at the end of regulation and into the 98^th minute when senior Camden Riley scored on a corner kick from freshman Ryan Her to send the Tiger fans home happy.

 

"I was thinking to myself that this is the one, as long as we play a good ball in the box. We've been dominating on set pieces and we've been aggressive," Riley said. "The ball just fell in the place at the right time. I'm happy for it."

 

The win was Pacific's first in a match against another ranked team, the Tigers are now 1-0-0 in those matches.

 

"We wanted to justify the fact that we were in the rankings and justify that we can play ranked teams and beat them," Jorden said. "I think certainly that it's a confidence affirmation for our guys, but I'd be lying to you if I said we didn't think we can do this all the time. That's the team we want to have and that's the team we're trying to build."

 

In case you missed it:

1^st half:

• Pacific's senior, Alfredo Alcala made his first start of the season after missing the first two games of the year with an injury.
• In the 13^th minute, freshman goalkeeper, Ethan Bandre, laid out to make a diving save on a shot to keep the game scoreless.
• In the 16^th minute, junior Jonathan Jimenez nearly opened the scoring when his shot, which was taken from the left side of the box, hit the post. It would have been his first goal as a Tiger.
• In the 21^st minute, Senior Alfredo Alcala scored his first goal of 2018 after an attacking move by the Tigers found him in space. Jose Sosa and Bob Groenendijk had the assists.
• Cal and Pacific both took five shots in the opening half.

2^nd half:

• Cal turned up the pressure to start the second half taking four shots and two corner kicks in the opening 15 minutes.
• In the 68^th minute, Cal's Sam Ebstein scored to tie the game at one goal apiece.
• Pacific and the Golden Bears traded shots in the final 22 minutes of the half before heading to overtime.

Overtime:

• Cal took the opening two shot of overtime.
• In the 97^th minute, Groenendijk took a shot from just inside that was blocked by a Cal player and went out for a corner. Her took the first corner which was conceded for a second. On the second, his pass found the head of Camden Riley who sent the ball into the back-right corner of the net to secure Pacific's second overtime win of the year.

Notables:

• This was Pacific's second overtime win of 2018. Coincidentally, the game-winning goal in the first OT win also came in the 98^th minute. Camden Riley scored the game-tying goal in that game.
• Alfredo Alcala scored in his first game of the season.
• This was Pacific's first match against another nationally-ranked team in program history and the first match between two nationally-ranked teams at Knoles Field. The Tigers are now 1-0-0 in those matches.
• This is the second time in program history the Tigers have defeated a nationally-ranked team. The Tigers defeated San Diego State in 2016.

More from coach Jorden:

On Alfredo Alcala's play

 

"We know Freddy has good quality, especially around the area. He's goal dangerous. For him in his first game back, it's great for him to score the type of goal that he's capable of. And he's a senior, so it helps."

 

On Camden Riley's role with the team as captain

"He's the captain. He's the guys wearing the armband right now. He and Wouter really share the duties with it. Bottom line, he's a huge influence for us. He dictates tempo from the middle of the field and knows how to get us goals."

 

On the team's performance

"We played really well, and we know Cal is really good, based on history and the team that they have now. They're a very good team. For us, I look at the progress that we've made from the exhibition season and into the first and second game, which we lost, but what we did in it was very good. We continue to add the pieces of the puzzle so that the performance that we had tonight has more dynamic quality and we can solve more problems as they come to us."