Wednesday’s practice had been over for 30 minutes, but Cal men’s soccer head coach Kevin Grimes was still busy running one more drill.
Alongside backup forwards John Fitzpatrick and Luis Fuentes, Grimes focused on how to evade defenders at close contact. Grimes lobbed a ball at either Fitzpatrick or Fuentes, and the two athletes would have to spin past their defender and take a shot.
Fitzpatrick and Fuentes haven’t made much impact this season, but perhaps with the extra practice this week, they can turn a new leaf in Thursday’s tilt with Stanford at 7 p.m.
“They both pose a different style of play than Stefano (Bonomo) or Kyle (Lunt),” Grimes said. “Hopefully, it makes opponents adjust the way they defend.”
For the Bears (6-3-1, 1-1 in the Pac-12), all and any offensive help is needed. After bombarding teams like University of Central Florida and Houston Baptist, Cal’s goal streak has dried up in the past two weeks. In the past three matches, the Bears scored one goal per match.
Heading the match with the Cardinal at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, Cal is still trying to figure who can be its reliable goalscorer up top. While Bonomo, the team leader in goals with five, scored the golden goal against San Diego State, he was invisible against No. 9 UCLA last Sunday.
Lunt, who regularly starts alongside Bonomo, was the main culprit in the Bears’ offsides problem this weekend. Cal recorded eight offsides last weekend, consistently killing any developing momenta for its offense.
The Cardinal (4-5, 1-1), meanwhile, have a star striker in Adam Jahn spearheading their campaign. Jahn has made the most of his imposing 6’3” size this season with a tally of five goals and two assists.
Facing the task of containing Jahn, the Bears’ defensive line will be undermanned this week. Center backs Steve Birnbaum and Ted Jones are still recuperating from their injuries and will likely not play this week.
The presence of the two senior defenders was sorely missed against the Bruins. The move to convert wingback Christian Dean to center back and midfielder Kyle Marsh to Dean’s wingback spot left the Cal defense vulnerable in its 3-1 loss.
Dean impressed his teammates at center back with his strength and physicality. He will be the Bears’ defensive answer to the physical Jahn.
“He’s young and coachable,” goalkeeper Kevin Peach said. “He has different strengths (than Jones and Birnbaum). He’s taller, and he has more upper body strength.”
For the offensive side, Dean will be missed as the wingback who can move up all the way to the final third of the field. His galloping runs down the wing and powerful crosses were perfect for Cal’s physical, long pass-oriented style of play this season.
Without Dean, the forwards will have one fewer weapon to rely on against Stanford. To produce goals necessary to win this key conference game, the four forwards will have to get back to basics Grimes preached after Wednesday practice: Keep the first touch soft, spin past the defender and aim the shot at the corner.
Seung Y. Lee covers men’s soccer. Contact him at [email protected]
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