Mustang Men’s Soccer selected for NCAA Tournament

Matt LaGrassa will presumably be healthy this time when Cal Poly visits UCLA on Thursday. By Owen Main

Despite being knocked-off in the second round of the Big West Tournament last week, Cal Poly (11-4-4) men’s soccer was selected as an at-large bid for the 48-team NCAA Tournament on Monday. The Mustangs, whose RPI has been in the top-30 in the nation for much of the season, will have a chance to avenge a 4-1 regular season loss to the Bruins (10-8-1) on September 18th — over two months prior to their second meeting of the year.

A different story?

Cal Poly has reason to be optimistic despite the earlier loss. The Mustangs played that September game without senior captain Matt LaGrassa and many players, including Justin Dhillon, were nursing injuries. Head coach Steve Sampson, still trying to figure his rotation out at that point, played 19 different players on that day. He’s cut his rotation down significantly since then.

After losing to former schools where Sampson coached in a row (Santa Clara and UCLA), Cal Poly has gone unbeaten in 12 out of 14 games.

You don’t Seyi

If they are going to have a chance, Cal Poly has to focus on containing UCLA striker Seyi Adekoya. Adekoya scored the final two goals of the first matchup for the Bruins. The sophomore was a second-team all-Pac 12 selection as a freshman.

Game time is slated for 7:00pm at UCLA. The winner will advance to play Seattle on Sunday. In their meeting earlier in the season, Cal Poly beat Seattle 1-0 in Spokane, WA.