Joe Tutino is the long-time play-by-play voice of the LA Galaxy. In this Going on Break edition, Joe talks about what life was like with the Galaxy as things were canceled just prior to a road trip, what he’s been up to during the stoppage, and a number of other things. 

When former Cal Poly soccer goalie Alyssa Giannetti met me on-campus on Friday afternoon, she had her skateboard under her arm and her last final behind her. After two years playing professional soccer in Finland, Giannetti came back to Cal Poly to finish her degree. 

In our conversation, she discussed choosing Cal Poly in part because it was a good surfing school, other reasons she chose Cal Poly, how she became a professional soccer player, and what’s ahead now that her soccer career is over. 

Cal Poly sophomore midfielder Christian Enriquez met with his coaches and team today to officially announce his intention to leave the team and school to pursue a professional opportunity. 

Over the weekend, Enriquez posted the following to his Instagram account, thanking teammates and coaches. He has an opportunity it seems, and he’s taking it. 

 

I’m deeply saddened to say I’m leaving Cal Poly, but happy to know the past two years have been filled with growth and relationships with great people. I’ve made some brothers and have made memories I’ll cherish forever. This team is family and I’m blessed to have been part of such a great university and soccer program. When opportunities present themselves they might not come again, & I am excited for what’s next. All the best to my teammates and coaches that have supported unconditionally. #CPMS

A post shared by christian enriquez (@c.enriquez10) on Jan 4, 2018 at 8:39pm PST

That opportunity, Enriquez confirmed with Fansmanship.com, is a USL contract in Portland. The Timbers and T2 (what they call their USL team) are familiar with players from Cal Poly. Goalkeeper Wade Hamilton played there last season and is listed on their roster. 

“I’m leaving because it’s a solid opportunity for me to leave school for and it’s something I’ve been chasing since I was three,” said Enriquez. “Coach Sampson agreed it was the right time for me to leave as well.”

Christian Enriquez scores his first collegiate goal against UCSB in 2016. By Owen Main

As a freshman, Enriquez was the Big West Freshman of the Year, scoring a long goal at home against UCSB and being the centerpiece of Cal Poly’s developing attack under head coach Steve Sampson. During the offseason, Enriquez was invited to train with the U-19 National Team three times. In 2017, he picked up a an early leg injury that limited his time and effectiveness throughout the season. The USL schedule starts toward the end of March, though T2 hasn’t posted a 2018 schedule yet. 

For photos of soccer and more click here. If you just want to contribute to the cause, Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Bruce Arena resigned last week. The consensus, I think, is that it’s not nearly enough.

Listen, I’m not someone who thinks that changing one guy at the top — Sunil Gulati in this case — is going to make things all better. Maybe most of the board of directors of the US Soccer Federation who has supported him should also go? I don’t know enough about the inner-workings of an extremely political organization like that to even consider specifics right now.

But after Gulati affirmed that he’s not resigning last week, I started to take the liberty of looking through what’s online about the Board of Directors and the bylaws of the USSF. I need to educate myself (at least a little) if I’m going to have an opinion about this.

Here is a link to the list of who is on the Board of Directors. 

And here’s a place you can click for yourself and read through the bylaws. Because educating yourself as a soccer fan can’t hurt either, right?

I’m no lawyer, but it seems that something like a motion to remove Gulati from the top would require a 60 day waiting period unless it’s considered an “urgent case.” In that case, a 2/3 majority vote would be required.  Right now, there is a three-term limit on the presidency that Gulati has in place. I suppose that could be amended, but that seems like a slam-dunk to the people who are talking about whether he’ll run for another term, which is confusing to me. Maybe someone who has the opportunity to talk with people in the chain of the USSF can explore that.

His Wikipedia page says that Gulati, an economics lecturer at Columbia University. Full time. Also he runs United States Soccer. Because that’s just a little part time thing. 

Looks like someone on Reddit had the same general idea I tried to address here. 

OK, let’s talk about the people who could be in charge of changing US Soccer, aside from Gulati:

Executive Vice President – Carlos Cordeiro

What you need to probably know is that Cordeiro is a former executive at Goldman Sachs and was described when elected as a confidante to Gulati. So, I guess you won’t find much change just by Gulati resigning, because Cordeiro would serve out his term. I think. 

Player representatives

The player reps get twenty percent of the vote, no matter how big the Board is. There are three players reps on the board: Chris Ahrens, Carlos Bocanegra, and Angela Hucles.

Ahrens is a Paralympics player and adaptive PE teacher in San Diego. 

Bocanegra is a 38 year old who went to UCLA and spent time in English soccer before returning to MLS and playing on the national team. He is, by far, the most recognizable name on this list aside Gulati. His resume seems like it would have some context, but it’s hard basically all you’ve known of US Soccer has been run by one guy. 

Hucles is a former player on the women’s team and is the president of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Pro Council Representatives

Don Garber in the MLS Commissioner and always has MLS owners’ best interests in mind. His stance will, by definition, to make the professional game less open. Promotion and relegation is the last thing he, and MLS string-pullers like Bob Kraft want. 

Steve Malik is the the owner of the Carolina RailHawks of the NASL. This is interesting, since the NASL filed a lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation for not having fair and open practices with regard to putting leagues into Divisions and not having an open promotion/relegation system. Malik would almost certainly be in favor of Pro/Rel, which, it could be argued, is at the heart of most of the issues American’s have pointed to as shortcomings of our soccer program over the past few days. 

Adult Council Representatives

Richard Moeller is a member of the Board of Directors of the United States Adult Soccer Association. According to the USAAA website, he is the vice president of the USAAA board. It looks like he’s the president of the Florida State Adult Soccer Association. No telling where a person like this is at with regard to a desire to see change.

John Motta is the president of the United States Adult Soccer Association and an executive at Dunkin Donuts in Massachusetts. Based solely on where he’s from and what his day job is, my guess would be he’s a person who would be close to people like Kraft and Gulati. That said, he did post this on Thursday, and his tone sounds anti Sunil, which is an easy position to take publicly in these times.

Clarification on running for President of US Soccer. Here are the requirements as of 9/1. The Board passed this nominating procedure. pic.twitter.com/cTdpUjpQtv

— John Paul Motta (@JohnPMotta) October 12, 2017

How far with reform the USSF will go probably depends a lot on people like Motta. Motta’s twitter account certainly confirms my suspicions about how much of a damn political dumpster fire the whole thing is… .

Youth Council Representatives

Jesse Harrell is the Chair of the US Youth Soccer Board of Directors. He’s in the insurance business in Houston and that’s just about all I could find on him in the few minutes I spent. I do this site for fun, remember?

Tim Turney is the Vice Chair of US Youth Soccer. If you google “Tim Turney youth soccer,” the second and fourth hits are articles about how officials were directed not to speak about concussions for youth players. So, that’s fun. It seems that Turney is from Kentucky and 

At Large Representative

John Collins was the attorney for the USSF nearly 20 years ago, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has been a US District Attorney and now is in private practice (again, all according to LinkedIn). Here’s an interesting article about an antitrust suit brought against USSF and Collins and about his fighting it off. Probably pertinent to what’s happening both with the NASL lawsuit and the American undercurrent to cut the power out from those who have it at the USSF. Just judging from his history with the organization and the fact that he’s a lawyer who’s been in the middle of these things before, I’d say that whatever happens, Collins is probably someone who is in the middle of things.

Independent Directors

Two of the three Independent Directors have collegiate/NCAA ties. At least one of them is talking about change, but who knows how serious anybody is?

Donna E. Shalala is the president of the University of Miami. She tweeted about the need for a revolution last week, as reported by SI. We’ll see how serious or far-reaching her concept of “revolution” will go. 

This morning 2-1 unacceptable For us in USSoccer more than a wake up call. Time for a revolution. Need a long term plan that is smart

— Donna E. Shalala (@DonnaShalala) October 11, 2017

Val Ackerman is the commissioner of the Big East Conference. She has come out strongly against paying student athletes in the past. Here is a 2013 profile of her in USA Today. No mention of soccer anywhere in there. The March 2017 articles you can find that link her and US Soccer also tout term limits of 12 years. Again, I’m confused how Gulati would get re-elected for the next cycle since he’ll be at that limit. 

Lisa Carnoy is a bank president on the East coast, so I would posit a guess that she’s not in the business of upsetting the current regime. She’s not listed currently on the website, but there’s a tweet and some articles that would indicate she’s also an independent director. In the announcement by US Soccer of her joining the board, there isn’t any mention of soccer experience. 

Welcome, Lisa Carnoy!@LCarnoy will serve as an Independent Director on the Board, the governing body of the USSF.https://t.co/7v2MDBBJdK

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) August 26, 2017

Immediate Past President (non-voting)

Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia’s wikipedia page is interestingly small. It says he has “played, coached, and managed soccer at several different levels,” which, based on their biographies I could find, puts him ahead of most other board members in that regard. He doesn’t get to vote. 

CEO/Secretary General (non-voting)

Dan Flynn’s resume says he was a collegiate soccer player over 40 years ago and is an Anheuser-Busch executive. Straight from the USSF’s website: “He was also directly involved in Anheuser-Busch’s sponsorship of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, which served as the springboard for their future involvement in the sport on a long-term basis.” So, though he’s a non-voting member, his presence is interesting in that Anheuser-Busch is a huge sponsor of US and Mexican soccer. 

Flynn is quoted as a representative of US Soccer in this release from the USSF, though I guess he could technically be a representative of both sides?

***************************************************

So, there’s the information I could gather in my spare time over the last few days, and maybe it gives you a more rounded-out picture of who’s in charge over at the US Soccer Federation. 

Here are a few things that stick out to me:

Lots of banking people and people tied to MLS

This was probably a natural thing around the turn of the millennium. It’s probably less appropriate and natural now, especially with the budding conflict between a free market system and the current system that ensures an MLS franchise can’t be relegated. 

Not tons of soccer people

Aside from the players, there aren’t very many high level soccer people on the board. I see lots of people who have worked on the business side of things for a long time, but I don’t think I saw any kind of coaching certification or anyone who has that level of context. There are more women there recently than there have been (good) and some players (also good), but by and large, most of these people are business people rather than people who think about soccer full-time. Probably having both a business/political IQ and a soccer IQ would be great for everyone here to have. Doesn’t seem like there are lots of examples, if all you’re doing is reading their biographical information that’s first-page searchable. Maybe I’m wrong and I’ll find out that Richard Moeller is actually a highly trained soccer development tactician. I’m open to that kind of information.

East Coast Bias

Holy moly! Who on here has any west coast representation? For a country so geographically big and regionalized, it seems like having someone from California around would be a priority. Obviously, it isn’t. There is a high concentration of power in the USSF in the New York/New England area. One of the three players (Bocanegra) is originally from the west coast, but as I looked at people’s biographies, the most western state I think I saw is Texas. I wonder how that affects everything from resources to selections at even the earliest of ages. The lack of west coast representation has to have an impact, doesn’t it? Californians sometimes joke about having their own national team. 

Change would mean a MASSIVE shift

Given the ties that many or most of these board members have to both Gulati and each other, and given that people generally think they’re doing the right thing (whether they are or aren’t), it would take an amazing amount of change in the groupthink that goes on within the board or in the people themselves. Given how long he’s been there, it’s likely that Sunil Gulati has been a huge part of getting each one of the board members onto the board. Even if people in the (still sometimes ignorant) US Soccer community want to put the blame on Gulati, it will take much more than ousting Sunil to deal any real change to the USSF. Even if he’s ousted on the next election, the Gulati principles will remain long after he’s gone in the form of the people he helped get there. You see, organizations and boards like this are not easily moved or changed. At least not usually. Especially not when so many dollars in general are up for grabs — specifically if the United States has a shot at a World Cup within the next decade. 

What do you think? What would you like to see change? What is a reasonable timeline for real systemic changes or do you feel that tweaks are better than changes? Comment below or find me @fansmanship on twitter. 

With their fourth straight loss on Wednesday night, Cal Poly men’s soccer continued to sit on three points in conference play. If that wasn’t bad enough, UC Davis beat UCSB, which meant that Sacramento State, UC Davis and UCSB are all sitting at 10 points, seven ahead of Cal Poly with just five matches to play. So, what will it take for Cal Poly to make the conference tournament? Let’s examine.

Over the past few years, 14 points has been a virtual lock for the playoffs. But the Big West’s North Division went wild against the South — everyone but Cal Poly — so I would guess that if Cal Poly wants to make it this year, 15 points would be the minimum necessary. 

That means they probably need 12 more points — four victories — over the next 5 games to even have a shot at this thing. 

Two of those games are against UCSB (home and away), two are against UC Davis (home and away), and one is at Sacramento State. 

On Wednesday, Cal Poly continued to push players forward deep into the second half and overtime, even after defender Adam Olsen was shown his second yellow card. The pain of the loss was less in Cal Poly getting zero points. Rather, Sac State’s three points vaulted them to seven ahead of the Mustangs. 

If Cal Poly can get four wins in five matches — I guess I’ve seen crazier things — then they’d probably also have to hope for one of the other teams to go in the tank.

Cal Poly didn’t do themselves any favors in the first four games against the South Division of the Big West, but the South Division didn’t exactly help the Mustangs, taking just five total points against teams that were not Cal Poly in 12 games. 

Cal Poly isn’t mathematically out of it, but if they thought they needed three points on Wednesday night, they know that there aren’t really other options at this stage. On Saturday, they’ll visit Harder Stadium at UCSB and try to fight through fans legally throwing things onto the field to get three points at what is the the toughest environment to play in the Big West. 

Photos by Owen Main.To view more photos, click here. If you just want to contribute to the cause Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Kaba Alkebulan scored his second goal in as many games on Thursday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, as Cal Poly found two late goals to get past UC Riverside 3-1 in their conference opener. 

Kaba’s goal was a nice one. He chested down a long pass, didn’t take any additional touches with his feet, and rolled home a ball into the far corner of the goal to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. 

That Kaba goal from tonight. Not sure how it curled in, but it did. 'Stangs beat UCR 3-1 to take 3 points in their first conference match. @BigWestMSOC pic.twitter.com/gNQrZ2kUQx

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 29, 2017

Then he did this.

Then this.

Then this. 

Then this.

Finally, this. 

Alkebulan’s career at Cal Poly has spanned three coaches. He’s one of the final three players left on the roster recruited by Paul Holocher (Along with Nick Carroll and Adam Olsen).

Days into his second year on-campus, Holocher resigned. An interim coach (Phil Ruskin) picked up the slack, followed by Steve Sampson, who is in his third year at the helm.

Kaba’s size, speed, and strength have always been tantalizing to watch, but a clumsy first touch and sometimes overboard emotional energy seem to have gone the way of his dreadlocks for this, his senior season. I would liken him to former Cal Poly basketball player Joel Awich — a player who has always had some NICE physical tools who has progressed into a guy who can go against anyone through years of hard work. 

Mustangs start with three points

After Kaba’s goal, the Mustangs gave up a silly goal off an errant pass by defender Nick Carroll. With under ten minutes to play in regulation, it looked like the game might be stalling into overtime. In the 81st minute, Adam Olsen found Kaba in the box. After a calm touch or two, Kaba slipped and, with a loose ball in the six-yard box, junior midfielder Jose Rivera (Irvine Valley College) was there to clean up the mess, scoring his second goal as a Mustang. 

Less than seven minutes later, senior Tyler Savitsky (Harvard) capitalized on the Highlanders’ scrambling for an equalizer, slotting a pass from Diego Alonso into the net to pad the lead. 

Cal Poly plays at home against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday evening in Alex J. Spanos Stadium. 

Photos by Owen Main. To view more photos, click here. If you just want to contribute to the cause Venmo @Owen-Main or paypal owen@fansmanship.com. 

Folks around Cal Poly athletics are going to be real busy this weekend. From Thursday to Sunday, there are six home games, including one that’s being played in Paso Robles to go along with the Hall of Fame Dinner on Friday night.

Redshirt freshman forward Georgina Stiegeler has been dangerous as an attacker for Cal Poly this season. By Owen Main

The fun starts on Thursday night, when women’s soccer hosts Denver at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, starting at 7:00pm. Alex Crozier’s team is coming off an overtime win on Sunday afternoon and looks to build momentum going into Big West Conference play next week. 

***

On Friday, the volleyball team — a squad with REALLY high expectations this season, makes their 2017 Mott Athletics Center debut against conference foe Cal State Fullerton. The game starts at 6:30. The Cal Poly Hall of Fame dinner will take place on Friday night as well next door at the multipurpose room at the Cal Poly Recreation Center. Inductees will include major league pitcher Kevin Correia, Dr. Ken Walker, football running back Craig Young, and probably the best women’s basketball player in Cal Poly history, Kristina Santiago, among others. 

***

Cal Poly keeper Simon Boehme is the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Week. By Owen Main

If you didn’t get your fill on Friday, Saturday is even busier. It starts with a rare 11:00am start for the men’s soccer team. They’ll play a “home” game against CSU Bakersfield at Paso Robles Horse Park. With a football game on the same day, the soccer team’s choice to play a game off campus and try to engage the north county community makes sense. It also makes the drive for the Roadrunners a really short one. 

With just four goals in six games played, the Mustangs’ 2-4 record doesn’t seem as bad as it could be. Cal Poly’s offense will look to get going CSUB is also 2-4 coming into the match, but has given up 13 goals in their six games.

***

Once the soccer game is over, Sam Crosson’s volleyball team will play their second game in as many days against UC Riverside. Have I mentioned this volleyball team is good? They’ve won six straight, sweeping five of those matches. The only two sets they’ve lost over that span was in a 3-2 win over 23rd ranked Wichita State. They are legitimate contenders in the Big West this year. If you’re a student or will be on campus anyway for football, you should go early and check it out. You will not be disappointed. Saturday’s volleyball game starts at 4:30. 

***

I’ll be toast by then and my camera battery may need a recharge, but there’s no rest for the weary. With their playoff hopes maybe already on the line, Cal Poly football will kick off their Big Sky Conference season against a top opponent in Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks might be the toughest opponent Cal Poly has left on their schedule and a win would go a long way toward building confidence for the 0-3 Mustangs.

Khaleel Jenkins and the Cal Poly offense will try to get off to a good start in Big Sky Conference play on Saturday evening. By Owen Main

This game is important for SO many reasons, but one is that it is the first opportunity for freshmen to see a football game on-campus. They’ve been here for over two weeks now, and this is a big chance to make a first impression. Despite an 0-3 start, Cal Poly has an opportunity to go 1-0 in the Big Sky, engage their fanbase on campus, and get on a track toward a playoff berth. Northern Arizona is really good and I expect this game to be close and well-played.

I also expect it to be well-coached. Cal Poly is coming off a bye and whatever kinks offensive coordinator Jim Craft has had over the first three weeks, he’ll need to call a complete game and his offense will have to execute a complete 60 minutes for Cal Poly to win. Kickoff is at 6:05 and the Hall of Fame inductees from Friday night will be recognized at halftime. 

***

Saturday night, we’ll all get home around 10:30 or 11:00. And on Sunday, probably with a munchkin in-tow again (what, am I gonna abandon my wife and BOTH kids for four straight days?), I’m likely to be at the women’s soccer game. Expect the pitch to be a little bumpier as the Spanos field absorbs its third game in four days. This is not an unusual occurrence there in the Fall, but it does start to show some wear and tear by Sunday afternoon on weekends like this.

By the end of the weekend, I’m thinking I’ll have put some mileage on my camera, legs, and even my car. I’m estimating maybe 5,000 photos on my camera, 70 miles on my car, and probably a more pronounced farmer’s tan. If I had a fitbit, I’d tell you how many steps. I’m sure it’ll be in the millions. At least it’ll feel like it. 

It’s going to be a fun weekend. 

**************************************************

You can support the site by visiting photos.fansmanship.com and purchasing photos or digital downloads. 

If you don’t want photos and want to contribute, here’s a Venmo link. 

Nick Carroll got a lot of playing time as a freshman. By Owen Main

On Sunday evening, Nick Carroll scored the first goal of his Cal Poly career. It was an 81st minute goal that gave the Cal Poly men’s soccer program a huge boost, their first win of the season, and a home victory in front of over 5,000 WOW Week participants — incoming freshmen that the team hopes will be the future of Cal Poly soccer fans. 

Carroll was a defender without any goals to his name, so the goal was not a likely one anyway. If you know his story, you know how unlikely it really was. 

Changes at the top

The start to Carroll’s career — the fall of 2014 — was a tumultuous one for Cal Poly men’s soccer. Incumbent coach Paul Holocher left the program days into the start of Fall camp. Carroll, an incoming freshman, found some success under interim coach Phil Ruskin. He started 11 games that season, mostly at left back. For a team that liked to play with attacking wing backs, Carroll’s long runs down the sideline became a staple opposite right back and current professional Kip Colvey. The team’s lack of depth at defender and numerous injuries at the position pressed at least one other freshman into action along the way. The team did what it had to do to stay afloat. A star midfielder played central defender. Just about anyone who wasn’t injured played big minutes.

It wasn’t ideal, but Carroll was getting playing time.

The Mustangs got off to a decent start under Ruskin, but lost four of their final five games in conference and picked up just four points in division play. In December of 2014, Athletic Director Don Oberhelman hired former US Men’s National Team coach Steve Sampson to lead the Cal Poly program. 

Steve Sampson was hired to coach Cal Poly in December of 2014. By Owen Main

Carroll had acquitted himself adequately on the field in 2014, but as the season progressed, things got harder. School work wasn’t a priority.

Neither Carroll or Sampson got into specifics, but both recognized off-field and on-field issues. 

“I made a lot of mistakes,” said Carroll, a Business major with a focus in entrepreneurship. “I put myself in situations I shouldn’t have been in.”

“I let the fact that I was getting playing time [as a freshman] get to my head,” said Carroll. 

As Cal Poly seemed to be weathering the storm, the double whammy of soccer and school was hitting Carroll hard.

“He had some academic issues,” said Sampson. “Like most freshmen, they tend to test the waters on and
off the field. That leads to a lot of life lessons.”

The spring after he was hired, Sampson had seen enough. Carroll had made too many bad decisions, so Sampson made the decision to cut the left back. 

 No soccer

“I told myself that was it for me,” said Carroll, who was no longer a part of the program. He sulked. “My feeling was ‘I hate soccer right now.'”

During what should have been his sophomore season playing the sport he loved, Carroll didn’t play during Fall quarter. But over winter break in 2015, he had an epiphany. At home for the holiday, Carroll sat in his room and couldn’t get the game out of his mind. He confessed to his father how much he missed soccer. They had a long talk. 

Just 19 years old at the time, Carroll realized he really wasn’t ready to give up completely on his soccer dreams. He found out that it wouldn’t be an easy road back.

He contacted Sampson and they talked. He met with Sampson and Athletic Faculty Representative, Dr. Ken Walker. Walker, a former athletic director at Cal Poly, is slated for induction into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame this Fall.

Walker and Sampson gave Carroll some guidelines. They included a 3.0 GPA for the winter quarter. At the end of the quarter, after regular meetings with Walker and Sampson, Carroll earned a 3.4 GPA — his best yet at Cal Poly.

“Nothing slides with Steve,” said Carroll of Sampson. “He doesn’t care about us as soccer players only, he cares about us as human beings. He wants to know everything that’s going on.”

Carroll also met with some of the leaders on the team. It was a long process, but after his successful winter quarter, Carroll had his chance. He would be allowed to rejoin the team for spring ball.

Gaining confidence

It took a bit of time to shake off the rust. Having spring practice was helpful. Still, Carroll didn’t have his old, familiar starting spot back by the time the fall of 2016 rolled around. After not starting or playing much early in the season, Carroll played in a home game against UCLA, where he notched an assist in a 1-0 Cal Poly win — easily their biggest win of 2016. 

“I felt like, ‘I’m back,'” said Carroll of the UCLA game. He would go-on to play in all 17 games in 2016. 

Upper-class leader

Nick Carroll has developed into a reliable left back on Cal Poly’s men’s soccer team. By Owen Main

Nick Carroll is listed as a junior in terms of eligibility, but it’s his fourth year on-campus. He’s been through three coaches and his stint off the team. He’s a student who presents himself as someone who is thankful for the second chance he was given. 

Carroll pointed to a culture turnaround in the soccer program as an important contributing factor to his personal changes as well. 

“There’s been a 180 degree turnaround with culture,” he said of the soccer program. “When I came in, there was a different set of standards and rules.”

He knows Sampson has coached at the highest levels.

“[Sampson] knows what special teams have to sacrifice,” said Carroll. “Everybody now holds everyone accountable to an incredibly high level.”

Sampson reciprocated the respect.

“He’s matured incredibly,” said Sampson. “I know how hard he’s worked to turn his life around on and off the soccer field.” 

“Our soccer program is trying to be exceptional both on and off the field. [Nick] accepted it, took on the challenge, and is reaping the rewards.”

No time like now

On Sunday, Carroll took a perfectly-placed pass from teammate Jose Rivera and blasted it with his dominant left foot through the arms of the keeper and into the back of the net for a late, game-winning goal. It was Carroll’s first as a Mustang

He ran toward the big crowd of WoWies, who cheered for him. He celebrated with his teammates. Few in the stadium know the road he took to get to that moment.

“He’s proud of what I’ve done,” said Carroll of Sampson. “And I am too.”

Nick Carroll lifts @CPMensSoccer over Saint Mary's with his first career goal! Mustangs beat the Gaels, 1-0. #KSBYsports pic.twitter.com/E9YP9fI1Vt

— Chance Dickman (@ChanceDickmanTV) September 11, 2017

Nick Carroll‘s 81st minute goal lifted Cal Poly men’s soccer to their first win of the year in their home opener Sunday afternoon at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. 

Junior Jose Rivera, a transfer from Irvine Valley College, took a ball deep into the box and calmly left it off in perfect position for Carroll. The left back measured the pass and blasted it through the Saint Mary’s keepers hands into the net as the WOW week crowd of 5,000 – plus exploded. 

Nick Carroll lifts @CPMensSoccer over Saint Mary's with his first career goal! Mustangs beat the Gaels, 1-0. #KSBYsports pic.twitter.com/E9YP9fI1Vt

— Chance Dickman (@ChanceDickmanTV) September 11, 2017

Props to new KSBY weekend sports anchor, Chance Dickman for getting GREAT video of the shot, goal, and aftermath. 

After playing their first four games on the road, three against nationally ranked teams, the Mustangs finally picked-up a result. Saint Mary’s was no slouch either. The Gaels played Big West North Division favorite UCSB to a scoreless draw and beat South Division favorite CSUN 2-1. 

Cal Poly is now (1-4-0) on the season and next plays this Saturday night at San Diego State, before returning to SLO County to play CSU Bakersfield at the Paso Robles Horse Park on Saturday morning, September 23rd. That day should be fun with a soccer game in North County in the morning and a football game in the afternoon. 

Photos by Owen Main. For a gallery of all photos, click here. 

Last week, I got a message from Elise Krieghoff. It was simply a video that showed Krieghoff scoring on a bicycle kick in the professional league, where she plays in Norway. Krieghoff, Cal Poly’s all-time leading scorer, had a stint as a pro with the Boston Breakers of the US-based NWSL before moving to Norway this season.

The goal by itself is just rad, but the other shoe dropped when Krieghoff told me who the keeper was — former teammate Alyssa Giannetti. Giannetti also plays in the Norwegian league, and her former teammate’s goalazo came directly at her expense. 

I still think this goal Krieghoff scored in college was even better. 

Together, Giannetti and Krieghoff led Cal Poly women’s soccer to a pretty great three-year run. During their first three seasons, the Mustangs were 18-4-2 in Big West play, won a Big West regular season title, and earned the right to host the Big West Tournament. 

When I tweeted the video, Giannetti’s response was great:

It was only a matter of time before this surfaced haha

— Alyssa Giannetti (@AlyssaRozae) September 9, 2017

Props to Alyssa being a wonderful sport about the whole thing. Props to Elise for an amazing goal. 

It’s always fun when I can get footage of a Cal Poly athlete playing professionally. Ride High, ladies.