After the Cal men’s soccer team went winless in a six-game stretch during the Pac-1o season, it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that the Bears would miss the postseason.

And now its official.

In the telecast announcement last Monday afternoon on ESPNews, Cal (9-8-1, 3-6-1 in the Pac-10) was excluded from the NCAA bracket. The Bears had held out some hope of making the tournament after upsetting then-No. 17 Stanford, 1-0, to end the disappointing season on a high note.

Just a matter of months ago, it would have seemed preposterous to say that Cal would miss the postseason. The Bears had a preseason All-American forward in Andrew Wiedeman, a No. 4 national ranking and were the preseason pick to win the Pac-10.

So what happened?

First of all, one cannot discount the effect of injuries. The once-stalwart defensive line for the Bears suffered numerous losses to injuries, including sophomore Teddy Jones, seniors Imaan Kerchgeni and Jacob Wilson, junior Servando Carrasco and even starting goalkeeper David Bingham at times during the season. Only junior A.J. Soares played every game in the backfield for Cal.

Furthermore, the offense came in fits and spurts. Despite the near-constant production of Wiedeman (26 points) and the surprise offensive production of senior Jeff Cosgriff (16 points), the Bears seemed unable to find a rhythm during the season — blowing out teams like USF, 3-0, but unable to score on league competition like UCLA and San Diego State.

Coach Kevin Grimes has his own opinion on the season.

“When you look at it, there are 10 weeks of soccer. Ten weekends of soccer, and seven of them were pretty darn good. We had three off weekends that really were the difference. I think our injuries were just at our worst during that nine-day stretch we played UCLA and San Diego State: four games in nine days, we go 0-4. I think if our injuries aren’t there, we are probably not having this conversation right now.

“It was what it was.”

That it was, Coach.

However you look at it, this season was a disappointment for the Bears, who, at this point last year, thought they could contend for a national championship. But the future is bright for a team returning 13 players who saw considerable time this year.

Thirteen players who you can bet never want to miss an NCAA tournament again.

Welcome to the Cal athletics emergency room and trauma center.

Unfortunately, we just had to declare T.O.D. for the Cal men’s soccer team last night at 7:13 p.m. It will surely be missed.

But actually, when Oregon State’s Colin Mitchell scored in the 13th minute against the Bears it was about over for the once-No. 4 nationally ranked team. With five conference losses, a record one game over .500 and no ranking whatsoever, its hard to see a selection committee plucking Cal out of its futbol sorrows and into the College Cup later this month.

I wholeheartedly believed the 2009 Bears could contend with the best in the nation, and they did.

Just not enough.

They opened the season with a 2-1 loss in overtime to then-No. 1 Maryland, obliterated a ranked USF squad and pulled out a classy 1-0 victory over Stanford. But for some reason Cal seemed incapable of showing up for the meat of its Pac-10 schedule. Games against teams they were perfectly capable of outclassing, out-talenting and out-everythinging (just go with it) and didn’t.

The most mind-boggling part of this season comes with four games against two Pac-10 bottom feeders. The Bears dropped two games to Washington and another two games to San Diego State.

What?!

If you drop four games like that — two at home, mind you — it pretty much sets you up for a few pressure-packed games against perennial superpowers like, say, UCLA who managed to, once again, beat Cal twice.

However, that’s just the way sports go sometimes, I guess. You hear it all the time from the T.V. talking heads: athletic endeavors are unpredictable and capricious. Even the scrawniest of the Davids can raise up and proverbially concuss a Goliath — that’s why we watch right?

Well, I would argue that’s wrong especially if your team has all the trappings of a title contender. There is nothing wrong with a good team doing good and a bad team doing bad. The Bears deserved a better season and for some reason it didn’t come to fruition.

With that said, the Bears have one last chance to sucker-punch a rival from the grave. On Nov. 14th at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, against Stanford, Cal’s swan song can be a booming solo performance with Pac-10 ramifications  or it can slip into the historical records without a peep.

I promise that the afterlife (sorry, I mean the off-season) will be much much sweeter with the former.

Well, it’s that sad time of year again.  Midterms, finals, coldness (kinda) and senior day.

Really, it’s a bittersweet ceremony, where the inevitable four-year cycle of collegiate athletic attrition comes to a close. Home careers end, but are also celebrated and remembered.

Such a day will transpire this Sunday when the No. 20 Cal men’s soccer team takes on San Diego State. Before the game the Bears will honor their five seniors: forward Jeff Cosgriff, goalkeeper Patrick Fry, defender Imman Kerchgani, defender Evan Sassano and defender Jacob Wilson.

But when something comes to an end, its only natural to look forward, especially in the cyclical world of athletics.

As they say, there is always next season.

So when looking forward what will the 2010 Bears look like?

Well, it will look quite a lot like the 2009 edition, but a growing youth movement will do its best to crack into the starting lineup.

With no offense intended toward the talented class of seniors this year, Cal will only lose three starters all of whom have proven back-ups waiting in the wings. (Click here to read more…)

On Friday, the Cal men’s soccer team squared off against Stanford in what is known as the Bay Area Derby. After seeing this photo from the game, though, “The Big Toe” might be a more appropriate title for the annual match between the rival schools.

Daily Cal photographer Anne Marie Schuler covered the game, and she returned with the “Points and Shoot” photo of the week. Cal forward Andrew Wiedeman goes toe-to-toe with a Stanford player in the Bears’ 1-0 victory at Edwards Stadium.

The only goal of the match was scored by none other than Wiedeman, a preseason All-America selection.

Cal has a record of 7-2, has won six of its last seven games and is currently ranked in the nation’s top 10. Its next game is against Washington on Friday at 4 p.m. at Edwards Stadium, where the Bears are undefeated this season.

For more coverage of the Cal men’s soccer team, head over to the Daily Cal website. For the weekly slideshow of Bears athletics, click here.

See you next week for another round of “Points and Shoot.”

This Friday is the No. 5 Cal men’s soccer team’s first Big Game of the the season.

And you know what? This is possibly the most important Big Game of their lives.

And you know why? Because this is the next Big Game.

With a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately mentality in professional and collegiate sports, a team is only as good as its next victory. In other words, forget that Cal beat Stanford twice last year, including a 1-0 victory in overtime, because it’s a new season with new goals. (Well, actually, revel in it and hold it over anyone you know at Stanford a little bit longer.)

Unless the Bears manage to win the national championship this year (which they have a very good potential to do, however unlikely it is for any team), this game against Stanford will be the true litmus test for success 10, 20, 30 years down the road.

And if you don’t agree, perhaps you should. People for years now have gotten arrested, embarrassed, and otherwise ridiculously and inappropriately passionate for these games.

And not just the football game.

Cal athletes owe it to generations of their fellow athletes, and us simple, pedestrian non-athletes, to give it all they got and leave it all on the field.

To the Bears on Friday, it might be just another Pac-10 contest if a massive red “S” wasn’t stamped across the chest of their counterparts, but that simple piece of embroidery is soaked in centriues of tradition, blood, sweat and a grass stain or two.

Stop it, you’re making them blush.

After the No. 7 Cal men’s soccer team defeated No. 18 San Francisco, 3-0, on Thursday, Dons head coach Erik Visser only had nice things to say about this year’s talented Bears team.

“Cal is one of the best college teams I’ve seen in quite a few years,” he said.

But the flattery gets even better.

Visser is no neophyte when it comes to Cal teams. The coach played for two NCAA championship teams at San Francisco in 1978 and 1980, including a 91-6-5 record with the Dons.

After graduating, Visser joined the USF coaching staff and has since seen the past 31 Cal squads.

Thats what I would call historical perspective.

“Their composure, experience and technical ability on the ball is a mark of a truly elite team,” Visser continued, waxing poetic over the Bears. ”This Cal team is the best Bears’ team we have faced in many, many years and could be a true Final-Four team.”

Final-Four? Goodness Mr. Visser, you’re shameless. 

But in fact, according to a source close to Visser, the man doesn’t throw compliments to any old nationally ranked squad.

“He isn’t prone to hyperbole,” Dons assistant athletic director Ryan McCrary said.

So stay tuned, Bears fans. This could be a special year for the team whose only loss has come at the hands of No. 1 Maryland in a 2-1 overtime thriller back on Sept. 6.

This past Thursday, the No. 7 Cal men’s soccer team beat No. 18 San Francisco, 3-0, extending its win streak to three games since losing to No. 1 Maryland, 2-1, in overtime on Sept. 6.

The Bears have truly been on a tear of late, scoring 10 goals in three games, but the biggest surprise of the year hasn’t been the prodigious offense. No, instead it has been sophomore goalkeeper David Bingham, who has posted a 0.60 goals-against average so far this season.

But at Negoesco Stadium on Thursday, Bingham was also an offensive threat.

Yes, I said offensive. (Click here to read more…)

Just like that, “Points and Shoot” is back again.

This photo, which marks the third installment of our weekly series, is just like the two that came before it:

A Cal athlete did a cool thing. A Daily Cal photographer pointed and shot it. We put it here.

Michael Restrepo captured this gem during the Cal men’s soccer team’s 3-1 victory over Cal Poly on Sunday at Edwards Stadium. During the game, senior defender Jacob Wilson (on the left) battled for possession and simultaneously showed why humans probably wouldn’t be good at flight.

While you mourn that fact, I’ll remind you that the Bears’ next game is across the Bay on Thursday against San Francisco at 7 p.m.

For more Cal sports photos from the last week, click here.

I wonder how many people know that the No. 11 Cal men’s soccer team beat George Washington 4-0 yesterday at Edwards Stadium on the UC Berkeley campus?

I’d say around 315 people did.

How about the fact that they brought the defending College Cup Champions and a then-No. 1 Maryland team into overtime before falling 2-1 last weekend?

I’d say around 3,710 people did, but maybe five of them were Bears’ fans.

“Maryland is crazy out there,” junior Andrew Wiedeman said of the massive attendance for their rematch against the Terrapins after splitting the series last year, 1-1.

That’s because Maryland fans understand that they have something to cheer for — just take a look at the pictures from the game and you’ll see that they appreciate the talent on the field. Fans are standing, cheering, and, well, are simply in attendance.

They have a team that deserves to be cherished and rewarded for their efforts with some community support, so they go and they cheer.

But so do Cal fans. (Click here to read more…)

In the first installment of Bear Bytes’ new series, “Key Matchups”—don’t get too excited people—we have a juicy one for the No. 8 Bears’ first game of the year against Georgetown in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Sept. 4.

Cal midfielders, meet Len Coleman. And his head.

Coleman, a senior defender, is a beast. Created from the same mold as AC Milan and US National Team defender Oguchi Onyewu, Coleman stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs a solid 220 pounds after a quality meal of unsuspecting Big East forwards.

In case you were wondering, that means he outweighs Cal junior forward Andrew Wiedeman, his probable opponent, by more than 60 pounds. That’s a big guy.

However, the Preseason All-Big East selection is more than just really, really large.

Coleman led the Hoyas defense in a successful 2008 campaign only conceding 16 goals all year—including 1o shutouts, a Georgetown record. He is also a two-time third-team All-Big East selection and once again is the anchor of a solid Georgetown defensive unit.

So, what does this mean for the Bears? (Click here to read more…)