Phil Ruskin, who took over for Paul Holocher 12 days before the season began, looks for his first home victory as a head coach this weekend. By Owen Main

Less than a month ago, Phil Ruskin was a second-year assistant coach under Paul Holocher, preparing for the fast-approaching NCAA soccer season. Now, two games into the season, Ruskin is the program’s interim head coach, trying to put his own stamp on a program that has shown flashes of brilliance over the past few seasons.

“I don’ think you’re ever really prepared,” said Ruskin, who was thrust into the head coaching position just 12 days before the first game of the season. “Certainly, when a situation like this occurs, there’s absolutely no preparation, but even still it’s a great opportunity for our staff to learn, it’s a great opportunity to put our mark on the program, and it’s a chance to do something that’s never been done.”

A big win at UCLA early last season gave the Mustangs some early confidence. After a hot conference start, Cal Poly looked poised to be real Big West contenders. Instead, they limped to the finish line, managing only three wins out of 10 Big West regular season matches. In 2013, Cal Poly lost their final three matches of the season by a combined score of 8-2, and bowed-out of the playoffs with a decisive 4-1 loss to Cal State Northridge in the Big West Tournament.

Ruskin is looking at the season as an opportunity to show what he’s made of as the leader of the program.

“I think that’s the only way to look at it,” said Ruskin. “You have to be excited every morning to get up and to bring the energy to the training session, to have the preparation and the planning… . We want to look at our week each week and look at what days we want to do certain things. We want to manage the week for the players.”

At least one player has left the program since Holocher’s departure, and Ruskin has worked hard to keep everyone together as a unit.

“The biggest challenge right now is just making sure the guys are bought-in, and I think that their response this weekend showed us that they are,” said Ruskin. “I think the hardest thing is to come into a season with the idea in mind that you’re preparing one way and then a week before to understand that now, everything’s different. We’ve tried to keep things as consistent as we possibly can, I think the one thing we can ask from them is that they continue to do the same thing as well.”

Junior, Chase Minter, leads the Mustangs so far this season with three goals in the first two games. By Owen Main

Junior, Chase Minter has three goals in the first two games and believes that the controversy the team has gone through has helped develop some amount of chemistry between the players that might not have been there before.

“Our coaching staff and players started worrying more about what was in our control. Doing so made us more complete and a more solidified group,” said Minter. “In the time I’ve been here we’re probably the closest that we’ve ever been. I think we’re kind of born through fire, we’re getting closer through [adversity]. It’s really making us more solidified as a group and we’re working for each other more. I think it’s unfortunate what happened, but we’re definitely moving forward. We’re getting closer as the season goes-on.”

A dangerous and diminutive winger, Minter has been given the green light by Ruskin to play more freely and take advantage of attacking opportunities when they arise.

While the offensive numbers are gaudy, overall results haven’t quite been what anyone in the program wants. Last season, the program scored a program-record 43 goals in 21 games, but also gave up 34 en route to a 10-9-2 overall record.

“We’ve been working throughout the off-season on getting behind the ball, balancing, and so far it’s been looking better this year,” said junior goalie, Wade Hamilton. “We’re definitely still working, but we’re getting the hang of it.”

Last week, Cal Poly showed they can still be potent offensively, scoring six goals in two games in North Carolina. The Mustangs showed they still also have some work to do. They gave up five goals including a 4-3 loss to Davidson in their first game of the year. In that match, they lost an early 2-0 lead.

The 3-1 victory two days later over ACC foe North Carolina State was Ruskin’s first win as head coach and gave the Mustangs some confidence going into their home home opener against Northern Illinois.

“We figured out what we were doing wrong in the first game [vs. Davidson],” said Hamilton. “We had a plan and we stuck to the plan and we capitalized on what we needed to do.”

Cal Poly’s non-conference home schedule includes six games this seaon against Northern Illinois, Massachusetts, Grand Canyon, San Francisco, and Pacific.

Their first two conference games are at home also. Conference contenders UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton will be in town October 2nd and 5th, respectively.

The schedule doesn’t get easier, but Ruskin gives off an aura of confidence and assuredness. While carrying on the possession-oriented, offensive style Holocher has developed, he also seems a little more open to adjust styles of play based on the game.

“We want to continue to play attractive soccer,” said Ruskin. “But I think we’ve asked the players to really read the game in a way where they understand that there are certain moments when we do have to play a bit more direct, at times, because that’s what the game calls for.”

Cal Poly Men’s Soccer at a glance:

Current Record: 1-1

Goals for: 6

Goals against: 5

Leading Scorer: Chase Minter (3)

Tonight’s game: 7:00 PM, Alex G. Spanos Stadium vs. Northern Illinois

Sunday’s game: 12:00 Noon, Alex G. Spanos Stadium vs. Massachusetts

Photos by Owen Main