Opportunities abound at Cal Poly this weekend

In case you haven’t noticed, the students are back. Grocery stores are packed, Target is insane, and don’t even try to go to Costco at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon right now. Last night, the WOWies invaded Farmer’s Market, and this weekend Cal Poly Athletics has a huge chance to make another first impression.

Their first impressions have been a mixed bag in the past. Two years ago, most of Alex G. Spanos Stadium filled-up for a WOW week men’s soccer matchup against San Francisco — one that the Mustangs won. Last season, Cal Poly’s football team had a great opportunity. After starting the season with a thrilling win at Montana and playing Arizona State close, they laid a WOW Week-sized first-quarter egg, trailing 21-0 before the Spanos student section could get warmed-up.

This weekend, there are more opportunities to WOW the WOWies. Starting today at 5:00pm, there are four events at Alex G. Spanos Stadium and a volleyball match at Mott Athletics Center too.

Three of the games are against top-15 teams in the country in three different sports.

For attendance, the two games to keep an eye on are Friday night’s men’s soccer matchup with UCLA and the noon football game on Saturday, and the way I see it, this is a huge oppoortunity for both teams.

With the two marquee games happening 16 hours apart against top-10 opponents, one has to wonder — can the freshmen bring THAT much noise at the end of WOW Week? After a late soccer game on their first Friday night in college, will they even be awake by noon?

Which makes the potential for some noon-game weirdness so, so real.

The last early start at Spanos I remember was the Yale game in 2013. If you don’t remember that, I’ll jog your memory — it was the most or second-most disappointing game I’ve witnessed at Spanos in my five or six years covering the team. There was weird mid-day sun. The student section was lethargic. The team was slow-footed. Yale didn’t have any business being in the game, but they punched the Mustangs in the mouth, got a few key turnovers, and beat Cal Poly. The game day crowd, the team, and the student section can all be ready to help keep Cal Poly on-track against Montana. If they do show, it will be an impressive start to the week for everyone involved, including the WOW leaders and RA’s in the dorms.

Adlee Van Winden and the Cal Poly Volleyball team’s match against #14 Hawai’i might be the most underrated game of the weekend. By Owen Main

The most underrated game of the weekend might be volleyball’s matchup with #14 Hawai’i. Hawai’i is a perennial Big West and national power, but this is a big year for Cal Poly volleyball. Sam Crosson’s first major recruiting class are all now juniors. The Mustangs’ best players are not freshmen and sophomores for the first time in three years, and this could be an early-season upset if Taylor Nelson and co. can get hot against Hawai’i. If you’re up for hanging around Cal Poly after the football game, volleyball should be a good time against another great opponent.

Which brings us to the bookend games for the weekend: women’s soccer. This year’s team is 4-4-1, having lost some close games and games to Pac-12 opponents already this year. After nine matches, they should be starting to find their identity and groove in preparation for their Big West schedule. Sometimes when a team’s identity is so linked to a single player — all time goal scorer Elise Krieghoff in this case — it can take a team a while to figure out who they are the following year. I’m anxious to see how some of the team leaders like Megan Abutin and underclassmen like Caitlyn Kreutz are playing in the final weekend before Big West play.

Back to the title of this meandering post — opportunities. All four teams who play this weekend have opportunities right in front of them. In a way, it mirrors the opportunities and fresh start new college students have, starting right now. Conference play is right in front of all of these teams and along with it, a ripe opportunity to achieve goals set long ago.

They’re all there. Right in front of them. Which will take them?

If you’re a sports junkie, these are the kinds of weekends you love. There’s a smorgasbord of action to choose from. See ya out there.