Mustang Men’s Soccer Fighting to Stay Above Water

Cal Poly is keeping their head above water. But with players missing games due to injury, illness, or suspension, the Mustangs’ Big West Conference Season is at a sort of crossroads.

Ramiro Molina-Valerio (4) played well in the second half, but Cal Poly couldn’t find a goal. By Owen Main

On Wednesday night, missing five defensive players, the Mustangs were upended by conference-leading UC Davis 1-0. The Aggies scored in the 64th minute when Noah Wilson slotted a left-footed shot to the far post to beat Cal Poly keeper, Wade Hamilton. UC Davis, which is one tie away from tying the all-time NCAA record for ties in a season, broke theirs against Cal Poly to move to 13 points, three ahead of both Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara in the Big West North Division.

The Mustangs’ offense looked a little stagnant and lacking creativity on the night. Perhaps that is an outcome of the Aggie defensive unit. It also could have been influenced by central midfielder Matt LaGrassa having to move to center back along with Kip Colvey, who usually plays on the far right wing of the defensive line. The Mustangs also utilized freshman Trenton Matson for the first time at right defender alongside sophomore Jack O’Connor on the left side, who has also seen only limited action this season.

With fresh faces on defense, players like Chase Minter, John Chronopoulos, and Steve Palacias had to spend a lot of time defending. It’s a cycle Cal Poly couldn’t maintain and still achieve any kind of offense.

Cal Poly held possession for much of the game, but had a hard time navigating the ball through the UC Davis midfield and defenders, who allowed the Mustangs very few chances.

One of their best chances came on a Kaba Alkebulan header that sailed just over the crossbar in the second half.

In the end, UC Davis celebrated with gusto, jumping in the air, and gesturing toward the uninspired-on-this-night Cal Poly student section.

The loss to UC Davis makes Cal Poly’s game at Harder Stadium at UCSB (Saturday, 7:00 pm) all the more important. Both the Mustangs and Gauchos are three points behind the front-running Aggies with four matches left in conference play. Cal Poly will get Sean Dhillon back from a yellow-card suspension, but will be without LaGrassa, who picked up his fifth on Wednesday and will have to sit out a match because of it.

Caption Contest, anyone? By Owen Main

The schedule this season definitely doesn’t favor the Mustangs or their soccer fans, especially when it comes to the marquee games with UCSB. The game between the two on Saturday coincides with a key Cal Poly home football game, so don’t expect a ton of Cal Poly fans to travel (I’ve always wanted to see a Mustang soccer match at Harder… I guess I’ll have to wait another year). Next weekend, UCSB travels to Cal Poly. With the game scheduled for Halloween weekend, the powers at be decided it would be good to play the game at 5:00pm on a Sunday. In case you were wondering, the answer is yes — it’s the Sunday of Daylight Savings Time. If you love sports, you hate the idea of a Cal Poly-UCSB game not being on a Friday or Saturday night.

It will be a real test of how supportive Cal Poly students and fans really are. Last season, fans were climbing fences to get into the stadium. I wonder how and whether the change in day and time will affect the turnout.

A budding rivalry up North?

I mentioned it before, but keep an eye out for news about the Causeway Classico this weekend. Sacramento State is hosting UC Davis, but they’re playing the match at Republic FC’s Bonney Field, which holds about 8,000 fans. It’s the first time they’ve played under the lights there and it will be interesting to see what kind of a crowd they draw. It would be really cool to have two big rivalries with huge turnouts in the same division.

Photos by Owen Main

To view on an iPhone or iPad, Click here.