Kaba Alkebulan scored his second goal in as many games on Thursday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, as Cal Poly found two late goals to get past UC Riverside 3-1 in their conference opener. 

Kaba’s goal was a nice one. He chested down a long pass, didn’t take any additional touches with his feet, and rolled home a ball into the far corner of the goal to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. 

That Kaba goal from tonight. Not sure how it curled in, but it did. 'Stangs beat UCR 3-1 to take 3 points in their first conference match. @BigWestMSOC pic.twitter.com/gNQrZ2kUQx

— fansmanship (@fansmanship) September 29, 2017

Then he did this.

Then this.

Then this. 

Then this.

Finally, this. 

Alkebulan’s career at Cal Poly has spanned three coaches. He’s one of the final three players left on the roster recruited by Paul Holocher (Along with Nick Carroll and Adam Olsen).

Days into his second year on-campus, Holocher resigned. An interim coach (Phil Ruskin) picked up the slack, followed by Steve Sampson, who is in his third year at the helm.

Kaba’s size, speed, and strength have always been tantalizing to watch, but a clumsy first touch and sometimes overboard emotional energy seem to have gone the way of his dreadlocks for this, his senior season. I would liken him to former Cal Poly basketball player Joel Awich — a player who has always had some NICE physical tools who has progressed into a guy who can go against anyone through years of hard work. 

Mustangs start with three points

After Kaba’s goal, the Mustangs gave up a silly goal off an errant pass by defender Nick Carroll. With under ten minutes to play in regulation, it looked like the game might be stalling into overtime. In the 81st minute, Adam Olsen found Kaba in the box. After a calm touch or two, Kaba slipped and, with a loose ball in the six-yard box, junior midfielder Jose Rivera (Irvine Valley College) was there to clean up the mess, scoring his second goal as a Mustang. 

Less than seven minutes later, senior Tyler Savitsky (Harvard) capitalized on the Highlanders’ scrambling for an equalizer, slotting a pass from Diego Alonso into the net to pad the lead. 

Cal Poly plays at home against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday evening in Alex J. Spanos Stadium. 

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

At the Paso Robles Horse Park, the Cal Poly men’s soccer team defeated Fresno Pacific 4-0 Wednesday evening in their final tune-up before kicking off the season next Friday in Indiana. 

Three Stars

Christian Enriquez is a sophomore, but he’ll be Cal Poly soccer’s field general from the midfield this season. By Owen Main

Sophomore midfielder Christian Enriquez started the scoring within the first few minutes. He collected a bouncing ball just outside the box and calmly slotted it past the Sunbird keeper, who was caught in no man’s land about five yards away.

Enriquez helped Cal Poly double their lead a few minutes later, playing a no-look through ball to junior college transfer forward Sean Goode. Goode did what he’s done every time I’ve seen him — that is score on his chances. 

Senior Kaba Alkebulan subbed into the game late in the first half and made an immediate impact with his speed. Kaba took a ball over the top down the left side, turned in and right footed it into the goal. Just after halftime, Alkebulan doubled up, scoring a pretty similar goal. 

Enriquez and Kaba are a clear one and two. Eddie Melgoza was my number three. Melgoza started in central midfield and led the back line to a clean sheet. Other defenders did rotate in and out, but Melgoza seems to be settling into a central defender role after playing on the left side most of his freshman year. 

Hoosier-bound

Cal Poly starts their season against two top-10 teams at a tournament in South Bend, Indiana at Notre Dame. First, they’ll face #7 Indiana on Friday August 25th, followed by a match the following Sunday vs. the hosts — #10 Notre Dame. Their opening road trip also features games at the Big East’s Georgetown and #6 Maryland. 

Decent results in those four road games should give the Mustangs the benefit of the doubt for an NCAA bid if they’re on the bubble. Playing good teams early is also a great way to prepare for Big West play.

Mustangs tabbed third in the Big West North

Cal Poly was tabbed today to finish third in the Big West North in the conference’s preseason poll released today. Since there are only four teams in the conference’s North Division, being picked third isn’t great. 

If you look at last season’s performance, thinking of Cal Poly as a third place team in the division might be reasonable. The Mustangs have nearly 20 new players on their roster as they try to bounce back from (5-9-3) overall record (3-5-2 in Big West play).

Predictably, UCSB was pegged as the favorite in the North. UC Davis was picked second, followed by Cal Poly and Sacramento State. Cal State Northridge was picked first in the South followed by Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside, and UC Irvine. 

Photos by Owen Main. To view the entire gallery, click here.

Don’t fear the tree.

On Wednesday night, Cal Poly men’s soccer will take-on Stanford, the nation’s top-ranked team, at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The exhibition match will be the first of two this week for the Mustangs. On Sunday evening, they’ll square off against Loyola Marymount before playing their first actual game at North Carolina the following week.

Cal Poly’s first two weekends or real games will be spent on the road. First, they’ll face ACC foes and top-10 teams North Carolina and Wake Forest before traveling to New Mexico to play the Lobos and Air Force the following weekend. The first home match that counts in their final record will be Sunday, September 11th against Fresno Pacific.

Kaba Alkebulan may have more opportunities to do damage front of goal this year. Photo by Owen Main

In their Green-Gold scrimmage on Saturday, key players George Grote and Trenton Matson were unavailable and Justin Dhillon rolled his ankle early in the first half. Though they lost four seniors to the USL and MLS after last year, this year’s Cal Poly team has added some depth in the offseason. Freshmen like Christian Enriquez, Sebastian Herran, Diego Alonso, Patch Johanssen, Kenneth Higgins, and Brayden Myus should all get opportunities to contribute.

Freshman midfielder Daniel Malki (Phoenix, AZ) is a Cal Poly legacy, following in his brother George’s footsteps.

Returning players like Matson, Ramiro Molina-Valerio, Joseph Bolous, Kaba Alkebulan, Adam Olsen, Bjorn Sandberg, Nick Carroll, Jack O’Connor, Jared Pressley, and Ruben Duran look to make improvement over last season to account for the loss in production and leadership from departures of Matt LaGrassa, Kip Colvey, Chase Minter, and Wade Hamilton.

Kody Wakasa, with a fresh white haircut and a familiar gritty attitude will lead the back line along with Matson. Justin Dhillon, who was a top-50 national recruit out of high school, has a final chance to play with his brother Sean — both are in their senior season. Tony Scimeca will compete for time in the middle of the back line and Brett Foreman, who was really effective two years ago before being injured last season.

The biggest question mark for this team might be who starts in goal. Eric Kam is a junior and has been in the program for two years already behind Hamilton. Simon Boehme, a Danish sophomore, has also waited his turn.

On the field, Boehme looks a little more Hamilton-esque, but Kam has been in the program for some time as well. I’ll give a slight edge to Boehme based only on the Green-Gold game, but either could be the guy in goal for the Mustangs this year.

Steve Sampson’s team will face North Carolina, UCLA, Wake Forest, and San Diego State. Cal Poly will have a tough schedule all year, but no game will be more fun than Saturday October 15th at Spanos Stadium against UCSB.

First thing’s first though.

Stanford is coming to town.

Photos from Cal Poly’s – Green-White scrimmage on Saturday

Find them all at photos.fansmanship.com

Cal Poly’s Kaba Alkebulan was a physical offensive target for much of Thursday’s match. By Owen Main

UC Irvine was the highest ranked opponent Cal Poly has ever hosted. Ranked second, the Anteaters came into Spanos Stadium on Thursday night and have to feel fortunate to escape with a point after Cal Poly dominated the first half and were a penalty kick save away from blowing the game wide-open.

Matching styles

Only knowing their record, I expected Irvine to be much more physical in this game. Instead, they also played a pretty attractive style of soccer that made the first half really enjoyable. Both teams showed really nice ball-control, poise, and solid passing and ball-movement.

I’m still convinced this will be the exception from Cal Poly opponents in conference play.

His friends call him The Captain

Cal Poly’s Matt LaGrassa opened the scoring late in the first half. In the 43rd minute, midfield captain found a Chase Minter cross and powered it off the crossbar, down off the Anteater goalie, and into the net. It was LaGrassa’s team-leading fifth goal of the season.

La Grassa was everywhere in this game. On at least three occasions, the midfielder tracked back to make goal-saving clearances in the box. He was also at the crux of Cal Poly’s possession in the midfield and one of the main reasons the Mustangs looked so great in the first half.

In the second half, Irvine shut-down the center of the pitch, squeezing LaGrassa and Steve Palacios and forcing Cal Poly out wide.

Missed opportunity

After controlling most of the first half, Cal Poly was put on their heels in the second half — played mostly in their defensive half. Irvine had multiple opportunities throughout the half. Cal Poly goalie Wade Hamilton stretched to make eight saves — including a few sprawling ones after halftime.

In the 53rd minute, Cal Poly had a chance to get a stranglehold on the game. John Chronopolis was fouled in the box and stepped-up to take a penalty kick against Irvine’s Michael Breslin. Chronopolis rushed his kick a little and Breslin guessed right, diving toward the right post. The shot was well-placed, but Breslin was there to stop and control the ball.

The impressive save by Breslin was his only save of the second half, but surely the biggest one of the game.

Momentum Shift

From there on, the Anteaters really squeezed Cal Poly’s possession game and made them a little one-dimensional. Irvine attacked Cal Poly defenders and midfielders with constant pressure after halftime, and in the 76th minute, all of Irvine’s possession and pressure finally paid-off. Marlo Ortiz did the honors, scoring his first goal of the season on a rocket into the upper-corner. Hamilton had no chance and the game was tied.

Cal Poly had some good opportunities late, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Sophomore Justin Dhillon continues to get shots from places that aren’t quite as dangerous as he’d like. Dhillon managed a team-high five shots (three on-goal), but didn’t find the back of the net. Like last weekend’s home game, this one was a sister-kisser.

The weekend’s not over

Cal Poly hosts Cal State Northridge on Sunday at about 3:00pm as part of an afternoon doubleheader with the women’s team (the women’s home conference opener is scheduled for noon at. The Matadors beat the Mustangs twice last season, including the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament. Sagi Lev-Ari might be the most dynamic striker in the conference and will test the Cal Poly defense.

Aaaand the pitch

The field looked in pretty solid shape last night. Some turf came up, but it seemed to be pretty true. After a football game Saturday and the women’s soccer game on Sunday afternoon, I’ll be interested to see what shape the field stays in for Sunday’s men’s game.

Photos by Owen Main