Cal men’s soccer demonstrated this weekend that even the walls of Edwards Stadium can’t protect the Bears. If anything, Cal was supposed to have the slight advantage in the matchup against the University of San Francisco; however, the 5-1 loss that the Bears took tells a different story.

Within the first eight minutes of the first half, Cal had fouled the Dons three times, awarding its opponents three free kicks. By the thirteenth minute, USF junior midfielder Max Hamelink powered the ball into the top right corner of the goal, right outside of the penalty arc. This was Hamelink’s third shot of the game, with one of his previous shots being blocked and the other off-target.

During the 21st minute, Cal junior forward Nonso Adimabua was booked with a yellow card for unsporting. Otherwise, the first half remained rather uneventful — until the 43rd minute, when junior forward Wyatt Meyer crossed the ball to the center. Shoei Honda responded to the pass with an effortless kick straight into the bottom left corner of the net for Cal’s first and only goal of the game.

Despite the overall loss, this goal was a personal victory for Honda, a sophomore forward from Sakado, Japan. This makes Honda just one goal short of Fahmi Ibrahim, who is currently leading the team in goals with a record of five.

The first half of the match ended 1-1 — the calm before the storm.

Within the first ten minutes of the first half, Hamelink assisted sophomore midfielder Rodrigo Bueno for the Dons’ second goal. Sending the ball right past Cal freshman goalkeeper Marco Brougher’s fingertips, this goal also marked Bueno’s second goal of the season.

At the 65th minute, junior defender Easton Harryman deep-crossed the ball into the goal box — where forward Max Chretien was waiting — heading the ball into the top left corner of the goal. Although Brougher was able to get a touch on the ball, his efforts weren’t enough. This left the Dons still up by 2.

Just ten minutes later, Hamelink scored yet another goal into the bottom left of the net after a slight struggle with Cal defenders.

Pouring salt into an already-deep wound, Hamelink successfully scored a penalty kick goal at the 87th minute. Luckily for the Bears, the game ended shortly after, saving them the embarrassment of conceding any more goals. This matchup finished 5-1, the first time Cal has lost to USF since 2007.

Hamelink’s hat trick landed him on the West Coast Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week list — the first Don to receive this honor this season.

The result of this game, as well as the poor performance the Bears brought this past weekend, was unexpected, especially given the fact that it was at home. That being said, the blue and gold have a lot to work on if they want even a chance at beating their upcoming conference opponents: UCLA and University of Washington.