BERKLEY, Cal. – Villanova will complete its two-game season opening visit to the West Coast on Sunday at 4 p.m. when they meet Cal (0-1 overall) at Goldman Field at Edwards Stadium. The match will be live streamed on the Pac 12 networks.
 
The Wildcats dropped a 1-0 decision Thursday night at Stanford. In spite of the setback in the season opener, Carlin liked a lot of what he saw from his experienced team.
 
"I thought we gave great effort and were right there with Stanford," Carlin stated. "Credit to them for getting the result."
 
This is the first ever meeting in men's soccer between these two programs. The Golden Bears also were defeated in their first regular season action, losing at Cal State Fullerton 3-1 on Thursday night after posting a 3-0 mark in the preseason. Shoel Honda had the goal for Cal.
 
Leonard Griffin is in his first season as head coach at Cal after leading Grand Canyon to an appearance in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Like the Wildcats, Cal returns an experienced roster.
 
The Wildcats played without their 2021 leading scorer Lyam MacKinnon (injury) in the opener but still applied quality pressure on the Cardinal back wall. The best chance to notch the equalizer may have come early in the second half when sophomore Balthi Saunders capitalized on a Stanford turnover to send a beautiful ball through to junior Akinjide Awujo. Awujo appeared to have a clear path to keeper Matt Franks but a sliding tackle by a Cardinal defender got just enough of Awujo's blast to deflect it over the top of the net.
 
In his debut as the starting goalkeeper redshirt Kent Dickey made nine saves on the night.
 
Villanova wedged in a visit to Ring Central Coliseum Friday night to take in the Oakland Athletics home game against the New York Yankees around training sessions Friday and Saturday afternoons.
 
"We just have to be ready for a good Cal team," Carlin noted. "We've done a good job of putting that one behind us and preparing for another good test on the road."
 
Following Sunday's game, the Wildcats are scheduled to return to Philadelphia. They will have a full week off then before playing their home opener on Labor Day, Monday Sept. 5 at the Higgins Soccer Complex against Northwestern at 1 p.m.