Mustang men fight Drake to a scoreless draw

Chase Minter’s shirt is almost ripped-off as a Drake defender executes the physical game plan to perfection. By Owen Main

Cal Poly fans were poised to explode. The team gave itself numerous opportunities.

The goal never came.

Against a tall and physical Drake side, Cal Poly men’s soccer played 110 goalless minutes in a game that ended in a scoreless draw.

Drake looked the more aggressive of the two teams early-on. Without a tall defensive option, Cal Poly was left scrambling to defend arial passes into the box. Midway through the first half, Cal Poly began to get their legs under them, and while the possession favored the Mustangs through most of the remainder of the game, the two teams both had numerous opportunities to put themselves on the scoreboard.

Mostly content to sit back and counter-attack, Drake managed 16 shots, three on goal. The Mustangs, who dominated more possession, couldn’t find the combination in the final third of the field and ended with 19 shots, six on-goal. The Mustangs’ best chance came within the final ten minutes of regulation when Justin Dhillon found himself unmarked at the back post. Dhillon headed a cross just wide of the net. As headers go, I’m sure it’s one he would like back.

The run of play was probably the best I’ve seen from the Mustangs at Spanos this season. Drake was a disciplined team that executed a physical, defensive game plan to keep the game scoreless. Cal Poly, who relies more on quickness than strength, has a little work to do to try to figure out how to play against a more physical style, especially when the officials are letting grabbing and pulling go.

The Big West is a physical conference and Drake was indicative of what many teams in the conference will try to do against Cal Poly.

Out of depth

Cal Poly, already playing without defensive midfielder Kody Wakasa, was also missing winger John Chronopolis (illness) and Kaba Alkeibulan (ankle). Both are expected to be ready for the conference opener on Friday against UC Irvine at Spanos Stadium, but their absence meant that Cal Poly head coach Phil Ruskin only used one substitution all match against Drake.

I’ve talked and written about how missed, in my opinion, Ari Lassiter is, too. Along with all the injuries, him not being on the roster is simply a blow to the team’s depth.

Cal Poly has a very solid 1-13 or 1-14 on their roster, but to win at the college level, where there are free substitutions, teams generally need 15-16 players to provide some contribution. On the back-end of a weekend in conference play, legs do get tired and mistakes are made. I’m interested to see how well the Mustangs do in those second games, given their usual rotation of 13-14 players.

Conference schedule front-loaded

Cal Poly’s schedule in conference is pretty heavily front-loaded this season. They’ll start conference with a pair of home matches against UC Irvine (currently ranked fourth in the nation) and Cal State Northridge, who knocked the Mustangs out of the Big West Tournament a year ago. The Matadors also feature the single biggest scoring threat in the conference in Sagi Lev-Ari. Thursday night’s match starts at 7:00 pm and Sunday’s kicks-off at 3:00 pm.

Photos by Owen Main

To view photos on an iPad or iPhone, click here