Cal Poly Women’s Soccer loses overtime thriller

Red cards can be the kiss of death in soccer.

Against St. Mary’s on Friday night, Cal Poly defender Robin Mertens was shown a red card in the 33rd minute. Down a player, Cal Poly regrouped and played close with the Gaels until a foul in the box led to St. Mary’s first goal. Samantha Dion fired the ball past a diving Alyssa Giannetti and St. Mary’s was up 1-0.

Cal Poly junior striker Elise Krieghoff drew a foul just outside the box and scored on a shorthanded free-kick. The strike was a thing of beauty — something Cal Poly fans have come to expect from Krieghoff — who is quickly approaching the Cal Poly all-time scoring title.

Here’s the goal:

To tie the game with a kick like that in a shorthanded situation is pretty clutch.

While an argument could me made that Cal Poly had as many good chances as Saint Mary’s during the game, eventually, those red cards do catch up to a team. The Mustangs made it to overtime tied at one apiece before Dion put a golden goal past Giannetti in the 93rd minute.

The Mustangs finish their non-conference schedule at home against San Francisco on Sunday. Big West play begins on Friday at Long Beach State.

Photos by Owen Main

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