VALLEJO, Calif. – The No. 21 University of California, Merced men's soccer team completed an unbeaten regular season and secured a share of the California Pacific Conference regular season championship following an 8-0 win over Cal Maritime on Saturday afternoon at Bodnar Field.

The Bobcats (10-0-3, 6-0-1) wrapped up the regular season unbeaten for the second time in program history. It is also the Bobcats fourth time finishing the conference slate without a blemish and it is the third regular season title since 2018. The Bobcats now have five combined Cal Pac Championships with three regular season trophies and two tournament championships.

UC Merced heads into the final days of October as one of just three unbeaten teams in the NAIA. Top-ranked Dalton State and No. 10 Milligan are the other two unbeaten squads. The Bobcats will enter the upcoming conference tournament held on Bobcat Field in Merced November 7-9 as the #2 seed.

Head coach Albert Martins' team turned in their best offensive performance in a road match since 2019 on Sunday. The eight goals also tied the 2024 single-game high overall and six different Bobcats found the back of the net. Daniel Borges and Carlos Miranda scored two goals apiece.

The Bobcats, who scored four goals in each half, opened the scoring in the 12^th minute when Jesus Enriquez pulled Cal Maritime's goalkeeper out of the goal area with his pass to Borges. Borges was able to finish with ease into the empty net from ten yards out.

Less than 30 seconds later, Jaycob Walker took possession away from the Keelhaulers keeper and put his shot into the goal when Cal Maritime was attempting to build out of the back.

In the 39^th minute, Miranda extended the Bobcats lead to 3-0 picking out the far upper 90 from the corner of the 18-yard box. Roberto Ceja and Xavier Barajas connected a couple passes up the field to get the ball to Miranda.

Three minutes later, Ceja earned another assist with a well-played ball to Christian Khanishian in the center of the box to propel the Bobcats to a 4-0 advantage at halftime.

Khanishian continued the Bobcats red-hot offense out of the break serving in a cross back post that Jimmy Perkins was able to tap in in the 50^th minute for his first career goal.

The goals kept coming for the Bobcats and Miranda made it 6-0 in the 58^th minute off an assist from Jesus Ponce from five yards away.

 In the 67^th minute, Giovanni Lopez scored a volley goal off a corner kick taken by Jake Perkins. The goal was Lopez's first in a UC Merced uniform.

The final goal came in the 69^th minute when Borges registered his second score of the day, one-timing a shot from 15 yards out after Joey Alvarez and Jesus Enriquez moved the ball seamlessly up the pitch.

UC Merced held a 37-8 shot advantage on the afternoon, putting 24 shots on target.

Borges paced the Bobcats with eight total shots, four on goal. Ceja, Enriquez, and Khanishian registered three shots on goal.

The Bobcats earned nine corner kicks.

UC Merced goalkeepers Angel Joaquin and Adrian Flores made one save each to keep the clean sheet, their second combined shutout in as many games. Joaquin earned the start and played the first 59 minutes before giving way to Flores.

Twenty-four Bobcats saw the field overall with all 24 playing at least 20 minutes. Salvador Plancarte earned his first start in a UC Merced uniform and logged a team-high 70 minutes.

Preston Nguyen earned his first career start.

Player Notes

• Borges finished the season as the Cal Pac scoring champion with 12 goals overall and eight goals in conference play. He scored a goal in nine of the Bobcats 13 regular season games and had a goal contribution in 12 of the 13. He had three multi-goal games in Cal Pac play.
• Borges is the second player in program history with 12 goals in back-to-back seasons, joining Cody Golbad (2014-15).
• Borges passed Marcus DeCouto for sixth in program history with 25 career goals.
• Miranda registered his second career multi-goal game and finished tied for second in Cal Pac play with five goals.
• Walker has found the back of the net in back-to-back contests.
• Enriquez tallied an assist for the third consecutive game and his two-assist match was his first of the season.
• Khanishian notched his career assist and his first career three-point game.
• Ponce and Ceja's assist were their first of the season.
• Ceja registered his first career two assist game.
• Ceja passed Ricky Rosas for tenth in program history with 54 career points.
• Alvarez notched a goal contribution for the second straight outing.
• Joaquin won his eleventh career match, moving into a tie with Alan Ochoa for the sixth most wins in program history.