Mackenzie Pridham winds up for the first goal of the game. By Owen Main

Two years ago, Cal Poly men’s soccer head coach Paul Holocher talked to me about a more open, visually pleasing style of play Cal Poly was trying to implement. It has taken some time and has been a process, but the benefits are being reaped for the Mustangs and soccer fans who like goals.

With a 5-1 dismantling of UC Riverside on Friday night, Cal Poly is now second in the nation with 2.7 goals per game. Just as importantly, the team moves to (1-0) in Big West Conference play and (8-3-0) overall. Mackenzie Pridham, who scored Cal Poly’s first goal on Friday, came into the game 11th in the nation in goals and netted his ninth in 11 games. He took a pass, spun to his left and scored with his left foot into the far right corner.

Cal Poly took their 1-0 lead into halftime, but turned up the intensity in the second half. Freshmen Ari Lassiter and Justin Dhillon provided a spark off the bench as Lassiter netted two goals to match Dhillon’s two assists. Dhillon also scored the first goal of his career within the final minute of the game to cap-off Cal Poly’s seventh game this season where they’ve scored 3-plus goals.

While there are always some scary moments with Cal Poly’s wide open style of play, the Mustangs continue honing their craft. The question remains whether their ball-control, open style of play can stand-up through an entire Big West Conference season with the likes of 6th-ranked Cal State Northridge, 25th-ranked UC Irvine, and two games against UCSB still on the schedule.

On Sunday, Holocher’s group hosts Cal State Fullerton at Alex G. Spanos Stadium at 3:00 PM.

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

OK, so I\’ve never made a Highlander joke about UC Riverside. Until now. Sorry. UC Riverside has struggled this preseason, losing notably 39-30 to Fresno State and 70-26 at USC.

The Highlanders did beat Northern Colorado, another common opponent with Cal Poly, but that was the only thing that resembles a quality win for Jim Woolridge\’s team.

If Cal Poly is to really compete for a top-4 seed in the Big West Tournament, winning games like this, against a team that was picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, is imperative.

An upset loss is not outside the realm of possibility for Cal Poly, though. Three weeks after beating Cal State Northridge 100-54 at Mott Gym last season, the Mustangs went to the San Fernando Valley and lost to the Matadors 94-81.

The UC Riverside game is made more important by a pair of TOUGH games next weekend at Mott Gym vs. UC Irvine (6-7, picked 3rd in the preseason coaches poll) and Long Beach State (4-7, picked 1st in the preseason coaches poll)

I caught-up with Chris O\’Brien and Chris Eversley before the Mustangs boarded their bus to Riverside on Thursday afternoon. They talked about what the team has learned over the first 10 games, what they did on Christmas vacation, and O\’Brien changed course to give us a movie review of The Hobbit.

Cal Poly @ UC Riverside

Saturday, December 29

1:00 PM, The SRC Arena

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