A lot can happen in one second. 

On Thursday night in a crowded-for-the-students-not-being-there Mott Athletics Center, Cal Poly overcame a 21-point first half deficit and a two-point deficit with one second to play to beat rival UCSB 80-79 in their Big West Conference opener. 

With fifteen seconds to play, Cal Poly’s Donovan Fields scored on a knifing left-handed layup to tie the game at 77. On the ensuing posession, UCSB’s Max Heidegger canned a long jumper to put the Gauchos up by two points with just a second left. 

The Gauchos celebrated. UCSB’s Jalen Canty gave a “shhh” signal to the Cal Poly fans. It was Orlando Johnson and James Nunnally all over again. Or so it seemed. 

Luke Meikle made three big free throws with the game on the line. By Owen Main

After a Cal Poly timeout, Fields used a Marcellus Garrick screen on the man guarding the in-bounds pass, and threw a length-of-the-court pass to Luke Meikle, who hesitated before shooting. It was less than a second, but enough to get the desired result. Meikle’s hesitation got Canty in the air. Canty bumped Meikle as he shot the ball and time expired. After a lengthy review, the officials determined that Meikle was fouled before time expired and awarded the fifth-year senior three free throws. Meikle made all three, sealing Cal Poly’s unlikely Blue-Green Rivalry victory. 

The win over the potential conference favorites moves Cal Poly to 1-0 in Big West play and dropped the Gauchos to 0-1. 

Blue start

I’m like 300-plus words in and I haven’t talked about the start. It was ugly for the home team. UCSB started the game up 23-2 and 27-6 with 11:09 left in the first half. Gabe Vincent couldn’t miss. Gaucho big men were getting to the line. Cal Poly was turning the ball over and getting really bad looks at the basket.

Joe Callero tried everything for about five minutes. He put Mark Crowe in the game and tried a 1-3-1 defense. Heidegger drained a three-pointer. He put Karlis Garoza in. Players rotated in and out like crazy, and it was hard to get traction. Trevor John came in and made a three-pointer. Things started to look up. Donovan Fields and Victor Joseph started to push the ball and not worry about running half-court offense. 

UCSB missed a few shots and the Mustangs inched closer. A single digit deficit at halftime would have been a huge win for Cal Poly. But the Mustangs did better than that, cutting the lead to four points at the break. less than a minute into the second half, Cal Poly tied the game. 

Second half rock fight

The second half went something like this. Cal Poly had no answer for Jalen Canty. The sophomore had just four points in the first half, but managed 17 in the second. UCSB had no answer for Donovan Fields. Fields played a great floor game with 22 points, 6 assists, and no turnovers.

Back and forth they went — the lead changed thirteen times in the final half, and twice in the final second of the game. 

Green Finish

Cal Poly doesn’t usually win these kinds of gams. I can remember distinctly a UC Irvine player open in the corner for a pass from Mamadou Ndiaye at the buzzer, a James Nunnally buzzer beater, and an Orlando Johnson shot that bounced off the rim, hit the moon, and barely touched the net as it went in at the buzzer. 

For once, Cal Poly found a way to win a game like this. It’s safe to say that this is a game fans will be talking about for a long time. 

Cal Poly hosts Cal State Fullerton at Mott Athletics Center on Saturday night. Tip-off is 7:00pm.

Photos by Owen Main

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

Cal Poly baseball is finally playing the way they’re capable of. After sweeping rival UCSB, Cal Poly has won six of their first seven series against Big West opponents, moving their conference record to 14-7, after a 12-20 non-conference record. After starting the season just 11-18, the Mustangs would finish with a .500 or better record if they win their final series this weekend at home versus UC Riverside. 

Bradlee Beesley has found a way to be consistently productive at third base during Big West play. By Owen Main

So, this is the formula…

Larry Lee’s team got really hot in Goleta this weekend. Erich Uelmen and Spencer Howard posted back-to-back 8-inning gems on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Cal Poly showed their pitching depth as Trent Shelton went six strong innings for the win.

 All three pitchers got tons of run support, too. The Mustang mashers put up 27 combined runs on the Gauchos over the three games. Cal Poly was led by many of their hitters, but none has heated-up like shortstop Kyle Marinconz. The junior went 9-15 in the series with two home runs, 6 RBIs, and four runs. 

Not to be out-done, Elijah Skipps belted two homers and drove in six runs on Sunday. Skipps scored four times on the weekend. Freshman Scott Ogrin managed a 5-13 weekend with five runs of his own and catcher Nick Meyer — just a home run shy of the cycle on Friday — ended the weekend 6-12. 

Really the whole Cal Poly lineup seemed to wake up in a big way. It was the first time maybe all season that pitchers and batters combined to have a great weekend at the same time. 

Too little, too late

At the beginning of the season I wrote about how and why I thought Cal Poly would make a regional. Given their early season woes, the Mustangs would have had to win the Big West in order to make the tournament. Long Beach State had other ideas and clinched the conference title with a win over Hawai’i today. 

Cal Poly will finish in either second or third place in the Big West. With a winning non-conference record, that could have been good enough for an NCAA Tournament at-large birth in most years. 2017 seems to be a season where only two Big West teams — Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton — will likely get an invitation to the postseason. 

Had they had a better early-season record, things could be different. Instead, Cal Poly is playing with a winning record on the line in their final weekend. 

Final series

Seniors Michael Sanderson, Brett Binning, Kevin Morgan, Alec Smith, and Slater Lee are all sure to be honored during the upcoming weekend at Baggett Stadium, but this could be the final collegiate series for some other talented juniors on the roster.

Friday and Saturday starting pitchers Erich Uelmen and Spencer Howard are both draft eligible following the season and are possibilities to be selected in a low single digit round. Trent Shelton, Colby Barrick, and Elijah Skipps are also juniors who teams may have their eyes on. Other juniors on the Cal Poly roster include Kyle Smith, Jarred Zill, and Josh George.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned covering college baseball the past few years, it’s that you’ve got to enjoy watching guys while you can.  Senior seasons are not a given for college baseball players. Have fun watching them, while you still can. 

Photos by Owen Main — photos.fansmanship.com 

This is going to be a simple post about what I’d like to see happen tonight:

What I want to see

• Rain, and cool photos as a result. I don’t like rain for my gear, but I’m going to be prepared and hopefully will be able to get some awesome photos of a packed Spanos Stadium with the rain.
• Tough, gritty play. The quality of play usually raises significantly in the Blue-Green games. How will the weather will impact the game? I wonder who benefits from a little sloppiness.
• A rowdy, soaked stadium full of 11,075 sopping Cal Poly students and fans. I wonder how many will stay for the full 90. What if it goes into overtime? Cal Poly students showed they couldn’t brave the heat when they left at halftime of the Montana football game in 95-plus degree weather. Can they handle the wet weather?

What I don’t want to see

• Injuries on either team related to the wet weather. This is always my biggest worry in a game like this. Here’s hoping neither of these teams are hugely affected by any pulled groins or hamstrings or other injuries related to the wet weather and possibly sloppy surface.
• Anything being thrown on the field. Seriously people. We are not animals. Don’t throw anything on the field. No tortillas. No water bottles. Nothing. End of story. If you do, you’re an idiot. Here’s something I wrote at the end of last year’s game and it still stands.

A close game. These games are usually close, no matter how the Mustangs are doing.

Tonight should be fun.

In case you want to get amped before the game:

Photos from last year.

Video of the Kody Wakasa game-winner:

Kody Wakasa scored his first goal of college, and it was golden. By Owen Main

For two seasons, Cal Poly men’s soccer hadn’t tasted victory in the Blue-Green rivalry. On Saturday night, a Kody Wakasa 104th minute goal to best the Gauchos in front of 11,075 fans at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

To find the winning goal scoring sequence, click here.

To view all the photos from the game, click here.

Photos by Owen Main

Note – I took so many pictures and video and have so much to write over the next few days about that game tonight (what a game!!!). FIRST thing’s first though. I have to get this one off my chest.

I just got home from the Cal Poly – UCSB soccer game. What a match! What an ending! I’ll be writing something about Kody Wakasa and the actual game later on.

Now, though, I guess I have something I’ve been trying to figure out how to get off my chest, and a lot of fans might not like it. Because what happened at Spanos tonight was unacceptable and I feel like I have to say something about it.

After scoring the first goal of the match, UCSB ran toward their bench, motioning to the crowd, giving them the shhh sign. It’s the same thing Nick DePuy did last season when UCSB scored and probably the same thing Cal Poly does in Santa Barbara when they’re fortunate enough to get a goal there.

As he started to turn away, UCSB freshman Geoffrey Acheampong was hit in the neck or back with what looked like a water bottle. Acheampong went down. A minute later, the first warning for not throwing things on the field was announced over the PA system.

Embarrassing scenes like this do not shed a great light on the Cal Poly student section. By Owen Main

At the time there were roughly a million corn tortillas and less than a million flour ones coating the sidelines and areas of the field near the sidelines. In the field of play. And not just in front of the Gaucho section.

I can’t really express my disappointment in any other way, so let me say a few things right here and right now. These are things I believe about sports in general that have crystalized tonight. Call it a fanpiphony (TM).

I love a big crowd. I love a big crowd that makes noise. If you’re a college kid in a crowd, being a little rowdy with your words can be really fun. But let me be really clear about this.

There is never an OK time for fans to throw anything onto the field of play during the game.

But Owen, what about in hockey when fans throw an octopus or hats on the ice after a hat trick? I used to think that might be OK. I don’t think that anymore. I’ve changed my mind. It’s never, ever all right to throw ANY object on the field of play.

What about tortillas?

First thing’s first: there were tortillas flying from everywhere at Spanos tonight. They were being thrown on the pitch, during the match, at players on both teams.

If you are a Cal Poly fan, why the hell would you be throwing tortillas? It’s not even your tradition. Shouldn’t the goal be zero tortillas on the field (giving up zero goals to UCSB)? If you were a Cal Poly fan with tortillas at the game on Saturday night, I have no patience for you.

Maybe it was fun for you to throw things onto the field. I have a good time playing ring-toss at the fair, but an NCAA Big West Conference soccer match between two really good teams should not remembered for people throwing things onto the pitch.

Even with the most beefed-up security I’ve ever seen at Spanos, hundreds of morons with tasty burrito shells were too much to overcome. I don’t want to think about where those tortillas came into the stadium hidden… .

I’ve been to soccer games in crazy places you guys. I’ve attended three matches in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where I paid the equivalent of $1.50 to sit in the “sol” seats at Marathon. The depraved fans who chose to sit there included the guy with no teeth who climbed 15 feet onto a fence to hang a banner and a majority of people so poor you wouldn’t believe. These people lived and died with their soccer, sometimes quite literally, but IT NEVER EVEN CROSSED THEIR MIND TO THROW THINGS ON THE FIELD during the games I was at.

Do we need 15-foot fences now? Do we need to construct a literal Thunderdome?

Which is a nice segue to my next point. Tortillas, man. As soon as tortillas are implicitly encouraged and not explicitly discouraged, a slow-moving momentum took over. Cal Poly and UCSB has a rivalry that has grown into the best college soccer rivalry in the nation.

“Tortillas at Harder is fine,” I’m sure people thought. But that wasn’t good enough. Soon, fans started bringing them on the road, throwing them (mostly) after UCSB goals. Over the years though, tortillas have become something to bring to games to throw whenever you want.

Whatever “tradition” that used to surround tortillas no longer does. Fans throw them at-will and especially when an opposing player is near. I KNOW that there are fans who would argue with me here. “We only throw them after goals.” “We don’t throw them at players.” “There are people at our stadium whose job it is to pick them up so nobody slips on them…”

On and on.

Unfortunately, there are traditions that run their course. Tradition is especially lost at visiting stadiums, where home fans see that throwing things onto the field is something that is done and implicitly allowed over the years by the visiting team and so they feel the need to do it too.

So, why not kick it up a notch? If they’re throwing tortillas, why can’t I throw water bottles? It’s how the 18 year-old mind works.

Which brings me back to my point, and my stance on this one. It is NEVER OK to throw anything on the field or court during any sporting event unless it’s to return the ball back into play after it’s been kicked into the stands. Our logical brain thinks we can separate “rules” about it, but the only rule that is idiot-proof — and there were a lot of idiots at the game tonight — is one that doesn’t have gray area. Sorry reasonable fans, your fun tradition has gotten bigger than you can control and run its course.

I’m a huge fan of tradition. Nothing was better than hearing the entire stadium singing along with the last few verses of the National Anthem tonight. I had chills down my spine and everything that it meant to be a fan of sports was harmonious.

Until people started throwing things. I am embarrassed. I am sad. I am angry about it. You should be too. I used to think people at other Big West schools maybe had a legitimate beef about fans at just one school being allowed to throw things onto the field of play. After tonight, any thought of righteous indignation or moral high ground is gone into the atmosphere, like the water that flew out of the bottle that hit the Gaucho freshman.

Dammit you guys, there was so much great soccer played out there. I hate that I’m thinking about this right now. I have stories to write and videos to post about how Kody Wakasa was injured all year last year, about how his brother has been trolling him on Twitter during games that he needs to cut his hair and score a goal for once, and finally he did. I have stories to write about how this was as good a game of soccer I’ve seen from BOTH sides at Spanos over the last three years. Instead, this.

I’m sorry Geoffrey. Not all Cal Poly fans are idiots. Just a few. Actually, a lot more than I thought. There were a LOT of tortillas flying, and by now, you know my feelings about people who throw things onto the field at games.

And you can quote me on that.

@GauchoSoccer DUMB DUMB DUMB. STOP THROWING THINGS!!!!!!! Also MORONS AND DUMBASSES. You can quote me on that.

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) October 18, 2015

This wasn’t a UCSB game, but Cal Poly and their fans hope they can celebrate like they did during this game. By Owen Main

Blue and Green. They go together like oil and vinegar. Peanut butter and ketchup. Toothpaste and apple juice.

Bounce-back kids

Both UCSB and Cal Poly kicked-off Big West North action with losses on Wednesday. The Mustangs fell on a golden goal to UC Davis in overtime and the Gauchos, playing with 10 men for most of the match, were upended by Sacramento State 5-2.

So, which team will bounce-back?

Who scores first?

This match will feature great 1-1 and offense-defense matchups. Most notably, Cal Poly’s defense is much-improved from a season ago and UCSB has the Big West’s most potent attack.

Cal Poly’s attacking players can also be potent though, and they better find a way to score first. Cal Poly’s Justin Dhillon is the only player on the current roster to have notched a goal in the Blue-Green rivalry, and he has three of them. Dhillon, who was a top-40 national recruit coming out of high school, has been nursing a sore hamstring while still getting comfortable in new coach Steve Sampson’s system. Cal Poly will need him to provide attacking support and smart midfield decision-making.

For UCSB, Nick DePuy scored four goals just last season against the Mustangs. The UCSB junior has scored nearly a goal per game this year. He’s an imposing presence in the middle and alongside freshman Geoffrey Acheampong, DePuy has thrived once again this season.

Mustang seniors

Cal Poly’s senior class, which includes at least four players with professional aspirations, finds itself in a familiar position. In each of the past few years, Cal Poly has seen a decent start to Big West Conference play fizzle into weak finishes to the season. There are only five more games for the Mustangs to prove they belong in the tournament and to get right for a possible playoff run.

The play of the entire team will make a big difference. This senior class has been through a lot over the past 18 months and nothing would be sweeter for them than a home win against the team from Goleta.

Seriously, Nick DePuy has been amazing this season. By Owen Main

DePuy dominance

Did I mention that Nick DePuy is a dominator? The 6′ 4″ junior has 12 goals in 14 games so far this year after tallying 10 goals in 2014. DePuy gave an infamous “quiet” sign to the Cal Poly student section after scoring last year. He’d love nothing more than to do it again on Saturday night.

UCSB has a lot of players to watch who are dangerous and talented. Acheampong is among the best, but DePuy is the guy who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Look out for number 6 in blue.

Youth and depth

UCSB has a good baseline of young players. Their starting lineup at Sac State included seven underclassmen and just one senior. Cal Poly starts four seniors and, while veterans of this game like DePuy won’t be phased at all, playing in front of 11,075 (or more) screaming fans can have an effect on players who are new to this game. Let me be clear, this goes for players on both sides.

Who wants to be a hero?

I had a high school football coach who used to ask this question for big games.

When it comes to games in SLO, this is the biggest one. Who’s going to be the hero?

To get a little counter-point to this mostly Cal Poly-centric site, I thought I’d invite Chris Pierce from the Gaucho Locos to the podcast. With the Cal Poly vs. UCSB Blue-Green rivalry heating up for this Saturday night, I talked to Chris about UCSB soccer, their great start to the season, and what the Blue-Green Rivalry holds for this year, when the Gauchos and Mustangs face-off on consecutive Saturdays.

Joel Awich shoots a jump shot in the first half of Saturday’s game. By Owen Main

At some point, this season’s trajectory is going to have to deviate from last season’s, right?

Here’s what’s the same this year as last year:

* Cal Poly earned a 6-10 record in the Big West Conference.

* Cal Poly will be the seventh-seed in the Big West Tournament, starting Thursday

* As the seventh seed, Cal Poly will once again face UCSB less than one week after the regular season finale. The Gauchos earned the second seed with their win and a UC Irvine loss in Davis on Saturday night.

* Last season, Cal Poly finished the regular season losing five of their final six games. This year, they’re not exactly a fireball going into the tournament either, losing their last four games.

Last year, Cal Poly finished with a 10-19 record going into the postseason. This season, it’s a little better than that (13-15 overall).

In their final regular season game last year, Cal Poly lost to UCSB in San Luis Obispo. This season, the Gauchos won the regular season finale on their home floor in the Thunderdome.

What might be different this season is the will that Chris Eversley brought to the floor. I believe that sometimes “leadership” from seniors can be overblown, but Eversley might have been an exception. After the UCSB blowout loss at Mott, Eversley was calm, confident, and relaxed as I’ve ever seen a college player in a situation like that.

His response about how nobody on the Cal Poly team was giving up or hanging their head until they rip the jersey off their backs resonated a week later, when he and the Mustangs were holding the Big West Tournament trophy over their heads in Anaheim.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like that kind of leadership was a big reason Cal Poly’s run last year made some sense in hindsight. With that context, I wonder who is going to be that guy this year, if the Mustangs are to make a run.

Could Reese Morgan’s knees hold up long enough for him to play consistently for three days and be that catalyst? Could a sophomore like Ridge Shipley make the next step when Cal Poly needs it most? Players like Brian Bennett, David Nwaba, and Joel Awich have all been pretty consistent with on-court production.

This time of the year can be about a lot more than making a few buckets, though.

Big Al’s last home game?

Alan Williams played his final regular-season home game with UCSB on Saturday night. He dominated both ends of the floor, scoring 26 points and pulling down 19 rebounds — all defensive. To put that in context, as a team, Cal Poly only managed 22 defensive rebounds.

Williams has been a force in the conference since his sophomore season and should get some serious looks in the professional ranks. Maybe a slightly more active Glen Davis comparison might be apt? At any rate, he’s one of the best big men in the history of the Big West conference.

I suppose UCSB could play again at the Thunderdome. A win or two in the conference tournament could put UCSB (18-12 overall) into a lesser tournament. For now, I’ll just say that the best player in the conference over the last three years is done with his home games.

Believe me, no other team in the Big West is disappointed.

UCSB toward the top again

Some team is going to have to play a great tournament game to upend UCSB. After a sluggish start to the season, Bob Williams has his team playing pretty well. They beat UC Irvine and UC Davis last week and have given themselves a chance at a two-seed in the tournament. I talk a lot about how Long Beach State is always in the mix in the Big West, but perhaps I don’t give Bob Williams and the Gauchos enough love. Since 2010, UCSB has won the conference tournament twice and finished outside of the top-three in the regular season conference standings just once.

That said, the last time they won in Anaheim was 2011. This year’s tournament field is as deep as any in recent memory, and UCSB is once again right in the thick of things as the two-seed.

Ben Howland, an assistant coach for the 1990 UCSB team, later took UCLA to three consecutive Final Four appearances. During his final season in Westwood, he suffered a defeat at the hands of Joe Callero’s Cal Poly team, who lost to UCSB on Saturday afternoon. By Owen Main

When the Thunderdome’s a rockin’

Props to UCSB students for nearly filling up the Thunderdome on Saturday afternoon. Their student section was loud, mostly into the game, and provided a pretty solid college basketball atmosphere. At halftime of the game, the 1990 UCSB squad, which one a game in the NCAA Tournament, was honored. That team included Lucius Davis and had Ben Howland as an assistant coach. Both were in attendance Saturday.

Big West Tournament Schedule

Cal Poly, the 7th seed in the upcoming Big West Tournament will play Thursday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim. If UC Irvine is their opponent, the game will be at 6:00pm. If UCSB is their opponent, the game will be the late (8:30pm) game. All games should be available on TV or streaming somewhere. I’ll post that later this week.

Photos by Owen Main 

Mott was packed on Saturday night, but UCSB fought-back for the victory. By Owen Main

UCSB used a 20-5 run in the final 7:23 to come back and win an ugly game at Mott Athletics Center Saturday night.

In Al Williams’ final contest in San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly’s Brian Bennett went toe-to-toe with the Player of the Year candidate. Bennett held the center to nine points on 4-11 shooting from the field, but Cal Poly shot only 23.4 percent (15-64) for the game, a season-low mark.

Joel Awich led Cal Poly in scoring with 13 points. Matching up with Williams, who scored nine points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Bennett notched a double-double for Cal Poly with 10 points and 10 rebounds. It was Bennett’s second career double-double and first since the first game of his freshman year at TCU.

Four fouls for Al

With 13:38 left in the game and Cal Poly up by six points, Al Williams picked up his fourth foul.

UCSB coach Bob Williams played a zone for much of the rest of the game. Down the stretch, the Mustangs had a very difficult time scoring, including a 5:41 drought as UCSB came back from a 10-point deficit to take the lead.

Much of UCSB’s success came with a zone defense that they were probably compelled to use due to Williams’ foul trouble.

Packed into the zone for much of the second half, UCSB limited penetration from David Nwaba and Maliik Love. With almost a full week to scout Cal Poly, the Gauchos really seemed dialed-in defensively, willing to give the Mustangs contested outside shots down the stretch. It proved effective.

Cal Poly shot 4-22 (18%) to UCSB’s 7-19 (39%) from behind the arc. UCSB junior Michael Bryson hit two big three-pointers to give the Gauchos the lead and then extend that lead late.

Overall, Cal Poly shot 23 percent from the field and held UCSB to 37 percent shooting, while winning the turnover battle 15-7. The Mustangs also outrebounded UCSB 20-10 on the offensive glass, but just couldn’t seem to get in rhythm or convert on the chances they had.

Along with Gabe Vincent and Zalmico Harmon, Michael Bryson was a difference-maker in the second half. By Owen Main

Gaucho guards keep them in it

While Williams was held to six points in the first half and only nine for the game, two Gaucho guards played big roles. Point guard Gabe Vincent showed that he is much-improved since last season. Vincent scored a team-high 15 points and shot 3-5 from three-point range. fellow guard Zalmico Harmon led the team with seven first-half points, keeping the Gauchos squarely within single-digits of the Mustangs.

Bryson, who plays a wing role, did not score in the first half, but he and Vincent combined for three straight three-pointers and nine consecutive points to punctuate the Gauchos’ late run. Bryson finished the game with eight points and six rebounds.

What’s next

Cal Poly gets ready to hit the road again next week. They’ll travel to the Pyramid to face Long Beach State on Thursday on ESPN3. On Saturday, they’ll be at the Matadome to face Cal State Northridge. Both games start at 7:00.

Women sweep the week

Earlier on Saturday, the Cal Poly women’s team earned a road victory in Santa Barbara, beating UCSB at the Thunderdome. The loss drops UCSB to 0-14 on the season.

Cal Poly will host Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Thursday’s game starts at 7:00 and Saturday’s at 4:00. On Saturday, the team will try to break the home attendance record at Cal Poly for a women’s game. I’ll post more on that later this week.

http://youtu.be/E6ab1ZkfLw0

Photos by Owen Main. To view on an iPhone or iPad, or to purchase photos, click here. 

Cal Poly fans didn’t have a lot to cheer about on Sunday. By Owen Main

On Sunday night, in front of a sellout crowd at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, UCSB scored twice in the first half and held-on with ten men for the last 19-plus minutes to defeat Cal Poly 2-0.

In front of 11,075 fans — mostly students — UCSB dominated the first 30 minutes of the game en route to the victory. Cal Poly, who was without at least three key defensive players, struggled to gain traction both literally (the field was still really wet from the weekend rain and football game) and figuratively (the Gauchos dominated possession early-on).

Still, there were a few opportunities in the second half that the Mustangs just couldn’t put into the back of the net. For the Cal Poly faithful, it was a frustrating end to the match, with the UCSB captain taunting the student section and the crowd filing out of the stadium with their heads down.

The emotion

This game is always full of emotion, but I felt like something was missing this time. Perhaps the senior class from last year — George Malki, Mackenzie Pridham, etc… — made a stronger connection with the fans. Last season, the stadium was full a full hour ahead of the match. This season, students were still filing in during the national anthem. Whatever the reason, it didn’t quite feel the same, despite the sellout.

The shushing

UCSB scored early in this match and gave the crowd the single finger shushing sign. For whatever reason, the crowd seemed to obey for most of the rest of the game.

Any other crowd might have taken the shushing as a reason to get louder, which is why the second UCSB goal was such a dagger. Sure, there were chants, there was a random cell phone light thing, and there were the typical taunts of the opposition’s goalie. But there wasn’t anything sustained or filled with passion, as there has been in previous years.

On a side note, who decided to make the UCSB match a 5:00 pm game on a Sunday afternoon? Whoever does must hate sports and America, but I digress. I guess my point is that I felt like something was missing. Was it just me?

The throwing

I don’t want to get into a huge discussion of tortillas. Tortilla throwing has become something UCSB soccer and, by proxy, the Big West Conference hangs its hat on. It’s a tradition unlike any other and the only time in a match where I’ve ever seen items being thrown onto the field of play allowed — or in this case, downright encouraged.

What I don’t understand is the outrage. One media member from Santa Barbara on the sideline found a piece of something that wasn’t a tortilla that had been thrown on the field.

“They threw this at our goalie,” he told me.

“Yeah, throwing things on the field is pretty lame I said.”

He agreed.

“Tortillas too, right?” I asked.

Whoa whoa whoa.

He tried to tell me tortillas were fine but throwing other things onto the field during the game wasn’t ok. So, here’s my point. Once things are allowed to be thrown onto the field — at the players on either team — during the game, it sets a dangerous precedent. It’s hard to split hairs at that point, especially when UCSB is playing an away game.

Whoever threw the metal thing (looked like maybe a lighter??) onto the field is an idiot who should have been ejected immediately. But so, too, should fans who throw ANYTHING at players while the game is going on — whether it’s a tortilla or not.

The three seconds

Earlier this season, I was picking the brain of a former Cal Poly soccer player about the anatomy of a penalty kick. He told me that after the referee blows his whistle, the penalty taker should always count to three before his run-up to take the kick. I’ve seen two Cal Poly men this season have PK’s saved against them and I don’t know if either has paused prior to the run-up.

Maybe it had nothing to do with it, but contrast it with a penalty kick from the same night in MLS. FC Dallas midfielder Michel is one of the best in the business at penalties. He takes FOREVER in this one (starting at about 1:45 of the video). The official even has to blow his whistle a second time to get him to start his run-up. Not surprisingly, he buries the shot in the back of the net.

The aftermath

Cal Poly is now in fourth place with a trip to rugged UC Davis in front of them. The game is on Wednesday afternoon at 2:00pm, and everything is on the line. To make the conference tournament, they’ll need to win and possibly hope for a UCSB win over Sacramento State. There are a number of scenarios, but winning is the key…

Photos by Owen Main

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