It’s been tough sledding for the Cal men’s soccer team as of late. The Bears have dropped three straight conference matches and only have one win in their last seven contests.
Yet, even with the recent disappointing results, head coach Leonard Griffin has liked what he’s seen from his side. For Cal’s upcoming road trip to Radford University on Oct. 22 and Virginia Tech on Oct. 26, he sees the necessary changes as simple.
“Between the lines, we’ve been playing some really good soccer,” Griffin said. “At the end of the day, we just need to put more balls in the back of the net and protect our goal a bit better.”
Despite the struggles in the results department for the Bears, their record on the road is remarkably better than at home. Cal has an alarming winless clip at Edwards Stadium this season.
However, their positive traveling winning percentage bodes well for this trip east, where the Bears hope to gain some momentum heading toward the end of the regular season and subsequent ACC tournament.
While in Virginia, Cal will first match up against a struggling Radford team. The Highlanders have won two of their 15 matches this season and have only nine wins in their last 64 games since 2022. This includes a winless 2024 campaign where they suffered 13 losses.
Even with Radford’s record of late, Cal will have to work to contain Highlander star striker Kenshin Akimoto of Japan, who leads his team with five goals in 12 games. His fellow countryman Hiromasa Iwai, leads in the assist department with four tallies in 13 matches played.
After its matchup in Radford, Cal will make a short trip to Blacksburg where it will face conference opponent Virginia Tech. Despite having a solid season overall with a 5-3-4 record, the Hokies sit in 11th place in the ACC rankings after only winning one of their six conference matchups thus far.
Virginia Tech’s most notable story recently has been the emergence of freshman phenom Dagur Traustason.
The towering 6’3” Icelandic forward has scored a remarkable six goals in only eight games. His performances earned him ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring five of his goals in the Hokies’ two games last week.
“Our guys have faced top-level strikers, and we’ll make sure that our guys are aware of (Traustason’s) tendencies. And at the same time, we’ll look to continue to play the way we have and capitalize on the opportunities that we get,” Griffin said.
Looking forward, the Bears will hope to use these two matches as a launchpad toward the postseason. A conference win on the road would aid in the seeding process for the ACC tournament, where the winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The looming playoff possibilities are a big motivator for Griffin and his squad.
“We feel, at this point, that the fate of our season is still in our own hands,” Griffin said. “We’d love to try and close the ACC play down the (last stretch of the season) and then try to make a little run at the ACC tournament.”
Finishing strong is a key tenet of Griffin’s teams, as last season Cal capped off the last stretch of the regular season with a huge upset victory over No. 1 Pitt and an away win in the season finale Big Clasico over No. 22 Stanford.
This set up a Cinderella run where the Bears upset their way into the ACC tournament semifinal before falling to defending national champion Clemson.
Griffin and his team will look to start stirring up that magic again on this East coast trip.
“The spirit of the group is extremely high right now, and so to go and get two results on the road would definitely ignite the flame that has already been sparked here,” Griffin said.