Mustang Men’s Soccer Puts Playoff Pressure on Aggies

Cal Poly men’s soccer is finally peaking. The question is whether it will be too late. After beating Sacramento State 2-1 on Saturday evening at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, the Mustangs’ fate depends on the UCSB – UC Davis game, to be played on Sunday afternoon.

You can’t ever blame Kody Wakasa for not being in the middle of things… Photo by Owen Main

With a Gaucho win or tie, the Mustangs advance. If Davis wins, Cal Poly finishes in fourth place in the Big West North Divivision, meaning their season is over.

How did Cal Poly win?

A third minute header by Bjorn Sandberg gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. It didn’t last long. Just over a minute later, Sacramento State’s Bert Corona gave the Hornets an equalizer.

The match remained knotted at one apiece until the 71st minute, when freshman striker Sebastian Herran kicked a left-footed shot that took a slight deflection and beat Sac State keeper James Del Curto. It was Herran’s first career goal for Cal Poly and gave the Mustangs the three points they so desperately needed.

You can watch the two Cal Poly goals here.

Good deal, so what happens next? Are the Mustangs in the playoffs?

Well, in a weird scheduling snafu, it seems that the final games of the season were not scheduled simultaneously. UCSB doesn’t like hosting night games during Halloween weekend. They’ve had issues during this weekend in the past.

So, why didn’t the Big West schedule simultaneous North Division games Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon? I didn’t get a super straight answer on that one, but Steve Sampson did address it in his postgame comments.

Also, UC Davis now knows for sure that they have to win in order to make the conference playoffs — an advantage for them to be certain going into their game with the Gauchos.

Did anything else fun happen?

Well, the game did get a little chippy. Late in the first half, following a common foul against Cal Poly, Sac State’s Jessie Gonzalez two-hand shoved Kody Wakasa from behind, sending him to the ground. Wakasa never saw the cheap shot coming. From where I was taking photos — about midfield — the incident seemed like an automatic red card. Gonzalez, who seemed like he knew a red was coming, ran away and was walking toward the bench before referee Alex Del Angel decided to only issue a yellow card.

You can review the incident for yourself here:

In the Sampson video above, he addressed this play as well. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the conference reviewed the play and suspended the player for the first round of the conference tournament. Based on what I saw from where I was standing, it would be an appropriate punishment.

So, what’s next?

Well, the Mustangs have to sit and wait. Anything could happen in a 2:00 game during Halloween weekend in Isla Vista in the rain. If UC Davis doesn’t win, the Mustangs will head to Fullerton for the Big West Tournament first round next weekend. If the Aggies win, the Mustangs’ season is over.

I outlined a road to the tournament a few weeks ago and targeted 13 points as the number they needed. Cal Poly ended up with 11, and that COULD be enough. You can watch the UCSB-UC Davis game here.