Mustangs draw San Diego State in best showing of the season

In what was probably their best showing of the young season, Cal Poly’s men’s soccer team drew 11th-ranked San Diego State 0-0 on Saturday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on the Cal Poly campus.

Cal Poly’s defense was well-organized all game long, only allowing three shots to the visiting Aztecs. Goalkeeper Eric Kam recorded the first clean sheet of his career.

Despite the cast on his right wrist, Kenneth Higgins has provided a lot of energy and ball control for a Cal Poly team that is still looking to find its identity. By Owen Main

Shoot it!

Cal Poly out-shot SDSU 12-3. The Aztecs actually had the most possession, but Cal Poly created opportunities on counter-attacks and set pieces all night. Justin Dhillon played as a lone striker for most of the match while Kenneth Higgins, Kaba Alkebulan, and Adam Olsen provided some support. Especially intriguing is the play of lefties Jack O’Connor and Nick Carroll down the left side of the field. As head coach Steve Sampson put it early-on, the connection between those two will continue to be important. O’Connor’s hustle and ability to get forward and get service to the Mustangs’ tall, athletic forwards looks like a recipe Cal Poly is trying to master.

WOW crowd… kind of

Week of Welcome had not started at Cal Poly at game time, but lots of students were at this match. The attendance was listed at 1223, but I would say they were low by probably a thousand. Most of the new side of Alex G. Spanos Stadium was full for this one.

Another ranked opponent

Cal Poly will host another ranked opponent on Saturday, this time welcoming 7th-ranked UCLA into town. The Bruins have hosted the Mustangs in recent years and it will be interesting to see if Cal Poly can get a result from a ranked team. UCLA will be the fourth match (out of 7) Cal Poly has played against a top-11 opponent and the Mustangs hope that it nets them their first win against a Division I team this season.

If they were looking for inspiration, the WOW week crowd should be out in full force on Friday. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were eight to ten thousand fans on-hand for this one. A few years ago, against San Francisco, the Friday night WOW Week game netted over 6,000 fans — mostly WOWies. With UCLA’s name brand and some good weather, 8,000 could be in the cards.

Kickoff against UCLA is at 8:00 pm.

Photos by Owen Main. To view them all, click here.