BERKELEY – Seth Casiple had ranked among the Pac-12 Conference leaders in assists for much of the season, but on Sunday the freshman midfielder made his mark as the team's finisher with the first goal of his college career. With the Golden Bears trailing 1-0 to San Diego State, Casiple scored early in the second half of an eventual 1-1 double overtime tie with the Aztecs at Edwards Stadium.

 

Cal, which snapped a four-game losing streak with the draw, now has a record of 3-8-5 (0-6-3 in the Pac-12). The Aztecs' record is 10-5-3 (7-1-3 Pac-12).

 

“The score doesn’t really show that we were fighting all game,” junior forward John Fitzpatrick said. “But I’m proud of everybody. You can’t ask for more than 100-percent effort. We played our hearts out there. Obviously disappointing not to get the three points, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

 

The Bears held much of the possession in the first half, when they outshot the Aztecs, 6-4. But, with a 0-0 halftime score looming, San Diego State grabbed the game’s first goal at 43:59. Gemechu Abraham headed in Miles Byass’ corner kick past sophomore goalkeeper Robby Gogatz to give his team a 1-0 lead it took into halftime.

 

Casiple scored with Cal’s first shot of the second half. Freshman defender Christian Dean launched a nice long ball into the SDSU box that found Fitzpatrick, who redirected the ball across the mouth of the goal. Casiple tucked the ball past goalie Blake Hylen to tie the match at 1-1.

 

Redshirt freshman Kevin Peach, who started the second half in goal for Cal, made a save of a Jose Altamirano effort at 67:01 to keep the game knotted at one goal apiece.

 

Each team had its chances late in regulation. After a Cal corner kick, Fitzpatrick forced a save out of Hylen with a shot at 79:18. Byass came close with a shot that was just wide of Peach’s post at 88:40.

 

SDSU took five shots in the first overtime to Cal’s one, though most of the Aztecs’ shots went well wide or high of the goal. In the second overtime, Cal junior midfielder Tony Salciccia and sophomore defender Ryan Neil took shots that also missed their mark. In the end, the 1-1 tie stood.

 

Cal closes the regular season with a game against rival Stanford at 2 p.m. on Veterans Day – Friday, Nov. 11 – at Edwards Stadium.